The Phoenix Champion (A Betrayed Champion: Rewritten)
by ResidentThatGuy
Summary: ***Based off of 'A Betrayed Champion by itssupereffective'.*** Contains chapters directly from the original story, with permission from the author. I take no credit for chapters marked as not mine. Advanceshipping, AAMayL, Ash x May, AshMay. Rated T for violence. [When Ash is betrayed in his time of weakness, he turns to something he thought he would never be a part of...]
1. The Cover unfolds

The Phoenix Champion

Welcome to the Phoenix champion, a rewritten version of itssupereffective's "A Betrayed Champion.

* * *

Preliminary Notes:

Chapters one through five of this fanfiction were written by itssupereffective, not myself, and I take no credit for them. I have attained permission from the original author to use them in my fanfiction. The following chapters are influenced by the original story written by itssupereffective and I also have permission to use the original piece as a base. I do not take credit nor do I own for the beginning chapters or the idea of the story as a whole.

Writing from chapter 6 onward is my own and while it may be based on events in the original piece, there is little to none direct quoting from the original.

This story will contain primarily AdvanceShipping (Ash and May) and possibly (I will ask for a vote later in the story) another shipping, probably IkariShipping (Paul and Dawn), but that will come later.

Note: The chapters not written by me will probably be formatted weirdly as opposed to those written by me, but I've tried to keep it as similar to the original as possible. In addition, author notes won't be in chapters 2-5 because they will be posted directly after this one, along with chapter 6.

* * *

Chapter One: The beginning of the End (Originally written by itssupereffective)

"And Lucian's Alakazam goes down and winner of the match is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the announcer said over the intercom.

Ash jumped up into the air in excitement. "We did it Pikachu," he said to his yellow and brown friend.

"Pika pi," Pikachu responded while jumping into Ash's arms.

"Yeah go Ash!"

"You were awesome." Ash turned around to see his friends charging at him. He was about to go and greet them when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around to see Lucian smiling with his hand held out.

"Congratulations Ash, I haven't had a match like that in long time, I wish you luck against Cynthia."

"Thanks, that was a great match Lucian, and if Bayleef hadn't evolved into Meganium I probably would've been done for," Ash said shaking his hand.

"Yes and I would have never guessed that aiming for the horn would have been my pokemon's one weakness," Lucian said puzzled.

Ash laughed as he remembered how it worked against Rhydon back in Kanto. "I guess it was just a lucky guess."

"Well I don't want to keep you from your friends," Lucian said while pointing at Ash's friends. "So I'll see you at your battle with Cynthia," he said while walking away.

After his exchange with Lucian, Ash turned around to see all of his friends, Brock, Dawn, May, Misty, Gary, Ritchie, Max, Paul who was standing in the back round with a smirk across his face, and for some reason even Drew.

"You were awesome Ash," May yelled.

"I've never seen a cooler match than that one," Ritchie said with Sparky on his shoulder smiling.

"If I was battling him I would have used Charizard's flamethrower ," Max said with a smirk.

Ash couldn't help but smile at all of his friends complements. "Thanks you guys, without you guys I know I would have never made it this far" Ash said gleaming.

"Well if it wasn't for my cooking I bet that you wouldn't have made it to Viridian city," joked Brock.

"Yeah yeah, and if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be the Pokemon breeder you are today," replied Ash.

"And if I didn't pull you away from all those girls you would probably be in jail for sexual harassment," explained Misty.

"Alright I get it," Brock screamed to end the onslaught of comments.

"So Ash," Dawn said changing the subject, "When is your battle with Cynthia gonna happen?"

"It happens a week from now so I'll start my training tomorrow, for now I say we go back to the pokemon center and eat," exclaimed Ash.

"Typical Ash, you can never eat enough," Brock said.

"What can I say, when I'm not trying to be a pokemon master I'm trying to fulfill my other dream," Ash announced

"What would that be Ashy-boy," Gary replied calling Ash his childhood nickname.

"To finally get full," Ash said with a smile across his face. Everyone let out a big laugh and went to the Pokemon.

The group couldn't be happier as they walked back to the pokemon center. The streets were illuminated by lights as they walked down the sidewalk. Everyone had a smile on their face, expect for Drew who was in the back of the group thinking. As they were about to reach the pokemon center, Drew walked up to May and whispered, "Hey May can we talk about something."

"Yeah sure," she responded "Hey guys," she said loudly so that she could get everyone's attention everyone else, "Drew and I are gonna stay out here for a little bit so why don't you guys go ahead and we'll catch up," she explained.

"Alright we'll see you later," Ash said, thinking nothing of it.

After everybody left May spoke up. "So Drew, what did you want to talk to me about," she asked.

Drew hesitated, this is what he's been trying to say for a while now."I've been holding something in for too long and I need to let it out," Drew said with his heart racing.

May had an idea about what Drew was going to say but decided to play dumb. "And what would that be," she asked.

"I, I think I'm in love with you," he declared.

May was stunned, she always had a feeling that he liked her but she never thought he loved her. But she was torn, she did have feelings for him but she also had feelings for a certain rave haired trainer as well.

"Y-you love me?" May asked shocked.

"Yeah, and I have for a long time now," Drew explained hoping for his desired answer.

"I...I don't know what to say." Drew cheerful expression slowly started changing.

"You could say that you feel the same," Drew suggested hoping for the best.

"I need some time, to think about this and take it all in," May replied as she felt her heart almost beating out of her chest.

"I would never rush you to do something you weren't ready for. Take all the time you need, but take this with you," he said giving her a rose.

"Thanks," May chocked out barely able to say anything.

Drew walked away leaving her stunned.

While May and Drew were outside, Brock, Ritchie, Paul and Ash were all hanging out in the Pokémon center lobby while everyone else went to bed.

"You know, they've been gone a long time, what do you think they're doing," Brock asked

"Whatever they're doing I hope she's okay," proclaimed Ash.

Just then, as if on cue Drew walked into the pokemon center and glared at Ash, knowing that May had feeling for him. Ash stared back at him, not really knowing why but he went along with it anyway.

"What's his problem, either he really doesn't like you or he's trying to hard to be like me," Paul joked.

"I don't like him, what do you think Ash,... Ash are you there," Ritchie said to a spaced out Ash.

Ash was still glaring at the end of the hallway where Drew turned the corner. He felt a tap on his shoulder. "Ash did you hear what Paul and I said," asked Ritchie

"Sorry I zoned out, what were you saying?" Ash asked.

"Look Ash," Paul said angrily while grabbing Ash's collar, "I make one joke a region and you just missed my Sinnoh joke so when I talk you listen, got it."

"Calm down Paul I got."

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere a certain brunette appeared with a rose in her left hand.

"Did I miss something?" asked May as she stared at Paul with his hands on Ash's collar.

"Nothing important," explained Brock.

"May where have you been, and where did you get that rose," Ash said, asking the rhetorical question while a mixture of rage and jealousy filled him.

A blush appeared across her face, "I was just talking to Drew and you know how he is with roses."

"Oh I see," Ash said as thought about what Drew might have said to May. "Well we were about to go to bed anyway so I guess I'll see everybody in the morning, goodnight everybody," Ash said while yawning.

Ash gave one more look at May with a smile across his face, but it quickly went away when he remembered that May had the rose in her hand and he walked away. Nobody seemed to notice this except for Paul who saw everything and just smirked.

* * *

So ends chapter 1.


	2. Foreshadowing

Chapter Two: Foreshadowing (Originally written by itssupereffective)

… The next morning

May's eyes opened as she stared at the ceiling. She pushed herself up, expecting Dawn and Misty to be awake but she realized that they were both still asleep.

May was at the top of the bunk bed while Misty and Dawn had both decided to take the bottom ones.

'Looks like I'm the only one up,' she thought to herself.

She looked on the table next and saw the rose and it caused her heart to race, "I don't know what to do," she said to herself, "Drew has always been cocky and my rival and all but deep down he's really sweet. But then there's Ash, he's always been there for me, cheering me on and believing in me," she whispered to herself as to not wake them up.

Little did she know that a certain blunette was also awake and heard everything. 'I chose a good time to wake up,' she thought. 'You're gonna have to chose May and I know exactly how.' Instead of getting up, Dawn stayed laying down, 'But for now, I want some more sleep.'

"Well, if I'm the only one up here, I"ll go see if anyone else is awake" May said getting up.

She walked outside closing the door behind her quietly. She walked down the hallway and peeked inside where all the guys were were sleeping to check if any of the were awake. She scanned the room seeing Max, Brock, Drew, and Gary still sleeping in their beds. But there was one bed that was empty, and it was Ash's bed.

"I wonder where he went," she asked her self, " He's probably out training."

She decided to go look for him, she grabbed her pokeballs from Nurse Joy and went looking for him.

She went into the woods and walked around for bit and was about to head back when she heard someone talking to their pokemon.

"Pikachu, use thunder shock, Donphan use rollout," a spiky haired trainer with a cap to hide his hair said.

May heard this and knew it was Ash, she decided to walk over and see him.

The thunder shock wasn't able to stop the rollout and hit Pikachu square on. Pikachu was sent flying back and landed right into Ash's arms. "Hey buddy you alright," Ash asked Pikachu.

"Pika," Pikachu said with a smile.

"Alright I think that's enough training for both of you for today," he said while pulling out a pokeball, "Return Donphan."

"Phan," Donphan replied.

May walked closer to Ash and spoke, "Hey Ash," May said to get Ash's attention.

Ash instantly turned around at the sound of May's voice. "Huh, oh hey May, whats up,"

"I was bored so I decided to get some fresh air, and I see you're up already training."

"Yeah, when I'm battling it feels like I'm at home, like this is what I should be doing. Outside of a battle it feels like a second language to me."

"You must really love pokemon battling don't you, I wish I could say the same thing about contests but I could live without contests but it seems like you can't survive without pokemon battling."

"I never said that, it's not all about battling, having friends like you guys is just as important."

May blushed at his remark, "Well a guy like you who has a heart of gold just attracts people towards themselves. You're special Ash just think about it, you are the Chosen One and you have the ability to control aura. Ash, there is no one like you."

Ash was amazed, he never thought about it like that but what surprised him most was that the way May talked about him, it made him feel special.

"Wow May, no one has ever said something that nice about me before. But I know that without all my friends there to help me, I might not be here right now. But thanks for the compliment May."

"No problem Ash."

An eery silence filled the air after that so Ash decided to break the tension with a question he didn't want to know the answer to.

"So May, what did Drew ask you yesterday while you guys were outside."

"Um," she said blushing, "He just wanted to learn about some technique I did during a contest."

Ash knew she was lying, he could tell but he didn't want to push the subject any farther.

"Well I'm going to go back to the Pokemon center to get Pikachu healed up," he said while walking away, "You have a contest in a couple weeks right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah it's in Hearthome City why?"

"You should train out here, the competition is getting tougher and I know Dawn has been working on a new technique," Ash suggested.

'Huh? Why is Ash telling me to train, maybe he doesn't believe in me." May shook her head at that thought. 'No he always believes in me, and he's never lead me wrong.' "Alright I'll start my training right now, see you later."

As Ash was walking by May, he stopped, he then gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks for the compliment." He then walked back to the pokemon center.

May was stunned, "Sure," she said while her face was as red as her bandana.

"I'm so confused, I don't know what to do now." She said taking deep breaths, "Well I can't do anything about it now, the only thing I can do now is train." she said pumping herself up, " Come on out Beautifly.

Little did they know that a green haired coordinator was watching the whole thing, he whispered to himself, "I guess it's time to start my plan."

… A few hours later

"Alright Glaceon, return," May said to her ice pokemon.

May put her pokeball back into her bag and walked towards the pokemon center. As she entered she said hi to Nurse Joy and turned her head to see a blunette on the couch with a devilish smile across her face.

'I don't like that smile,' she thought to herself, "Hey Dawn," she said cautiously.

"Oh hey May," Dawn said with evil intentions, "Come here and sit down next to me," she told her while patting the seat next to her.

As she walked over to the seat she didn't leave her eyes off of Dawn, knowing that something was up. "So Dawn what's up," she asked suspiciously, "You're never this excited to see me."

Dawn decided not to tell her that she knew her secret, but she wanted to try to go a different route with how to trick May into choosing between Ash and Drew, "Well," she started saying, "I have a problem."

"A problem," May asked, unsure of what was to come next.

"Yeah, you see I can't decide between two flavors of ice cream," Dawn explained setting up the trap.

"You're kidding me right," May said falling on her head anime style.

"No this is serious," Dawn pleaded.

"Look Dawn," May said as she stood up, "Any other day I would love to help you with this so called problem, but I have other things on my mind."

Dawn could see that May was walking away, so she decided to go to her plan B. "But May," Dawn pleaded with fake tears coming from her eyes, "If you don't help me decide what flavor I should get, then I'll never be able to eat ice cream ever again," she screamed.

"Alright I'll help you, just stop crying," May replied.

Dawn looked up at May with tears in her eyes, "Thank you."

She took a deep breath and spoke, "So Dawn, tell me what's the problem."

"Well, I have these two flavors of ice cream and there both very tasty but they have different factors that make them good," explained Dawn.

"Okay I get that part go on," she replied trying to hurry her up.

"Well, one flavor can be a bit overpowering at times and is sometimes a little bitter. But this type can also be very sweet and can be exactly what you need." Dawn said, explaining Drew in ice cream form.

"Okay and tell me about the other type of ice cream," May asked.

"Well the next flavor is very different, this type of flavor is always welcome and is always there for you."

"An ice cream, that is always there for you, are you serious," May said yelling the last part.

"Yes May, now let me explain, I wasn't done yet. Even though it is everything I just said, he, I mean it can also be very stupid and stubborn but it will protect you to the end. Now I'm done, so what do you think." Dawn said, explaining Ash in ice cream form.

"Well, even though what you just said about an ice cream is impossible, I know you're not gonna let me leave without a decision, so I would have to say my choice would be.."

Just then everybody who was asleep Max, Misty, Brock, Gary, Ritchie, Paul, Gary, and Drew who went back to bed after seeing Ash and May walked into the room. "Hey May and Dawn, what's up?" the tanned skin breeder asked.

"Oh nothing, Dawn just asked me what type of ice cream I like," May explained.

"Well I think that is obvious," Max said.

"And what would that be," asked Misty.

"Mint chip of course," Max stated.

"You're crazy if you think that kid," Gary yelled.

"Yeah it's obvious that chocolate is the best," Ritchie said.

As this went on, different flavors were called out, names were called and feelings were hurt. Dawn knew that her chance to figure out who May liked more was gone, so she went along with the argument. Paul knew this wasn't going to end up good so he was quietly exited the building. As he walked outside he saw Ash and Pikachu laying down looking up at the sky.

'What's that idiot doing,' Paul thought to himself. "How do expect to defeat Cynthia if you're just looking at the sky wasting time," Paul snarled at him.

"If I just trained nonstop and didn't rest every once and a while I would go crazy." Ash said still looking at the sky.

"I didn't say that you should be training all the time, but right now you only have a week to prepare against Cynthia so all of your time should be used training in preparation to battling her."

"Well if you want me to train so bad," Ash said while pulling out a pokeball, "Lets have a rematch."

'Typical,' Paul thought while a smirk enveloped his face, "I thought you would never ask."

'What idiots,' Drew thought while walking out of the back door the pokemon center. 'An argument about ice cream, but enough of that, I have to go do what I came here for. To make sure May won't fall in love with that Ketchum kid.

Drew knew that to have his plan work he would need the strongest trainer he could find. Lucky for him he knew the exact place to find a strong mercenary. He kept walking until he stopped right in front of a local bar. As he walked in quietly, he had to make sure that no one noticed that he was in a bar because he was only 14 years old. He crossed the bar and walked into the backroom. He knew that there would be only one way that he could find the strongest trainer there.

"Hey old man," he said to an elderly man who was sitting on a stool, "I need to know who here is the strongest trainer out of all of you," Drew asked.

A grin appeared on the man's face, "Well kid, if you're looking for a strong trainer, this is the place," the old man said.

Drew looked around the room and saw many different type of mercenary trainers, some big, some small, and some that didn't look that much older than Drew himself.

"Now most of the people here would say that they're the best trainer here, but if you're really looking for the best trainer I can tell you," the man explained.

"Alright that's awesome," Drew cheered, "So who is the strongest trainer here."

"While I do know which person is the strongest trainer here, but I never said it would come without a price," the man haggled.

"Give me a break old man, I don't have time for this," Drew pleaded.

"I'm the only person here who's ego is in control and that means that if you ask anyone else, they will tell you they are the strongest," the old man explained.

'I need to make sure that I get the strongest trainer here and I guess the only way to do that is to pay this old man' Drew thought, " Alright, here's all the money in my wallet, now tell me who is the strongest here," Drew said, tossing his wallet to him.

"Thanks kid, the one you're looking for is the kid in the back of the room by himself," he said pointing to the person.

"Him," Drew said amazed, "He looks like he's only a few years older than me."

"Yup, that's him," he old man said counting his money. "He's a very quiet kid but he's the best. His prices are steep but he's worth every penny."

"But I gave all my money to you, and the rest is in my bank account," Drew cried.

The old man laughed at Drew's reaction, "No need to worry," he said stealing a certain blunette's catch phrase, "He doesn't charge up front, he charges after the job that is given to him is done."

"Well thanks old man," Drew said waving goodbye as he walked over to the mysterious trainer.

"Good luck kid," the old man shouted, never to be seen in this story ever again.

Drew walked towards the trainer but stopped when he heard him speak, "What do you want me to do," the mysterious trainer asked lifting an eye brow.

Drew gasped, "How did you know I wanted you to do something for me."

"Two reasons, one, no one comes over to me just to talk. Two, you made such a ruckus that you would have to be deaf not hear what you were saying," the mysterious trainer explained.

"Well if you heard what I said, then you know that I need your help," Drew said. "Alright, you see there's this girl..."

The mysterious trainer interrupted him, "Look kid, I don't have time to listen to your stupid love story, just tell me what to do or get out of my face."

Drew smirked, "You're just the person I need."


	3. The Betrayal

Chapter Three: The Betrayal (Originally written by itssupereffective)

… Three days later, early morning

Recap of what happened during the three days I skipped: May is still thinking about what to do, Brock gets poison jabbed a lot, Gary and Max continue to have one line this story, Ritchie is underused as usual, Dawn talks to May about her muffin problem but as always is interrupted by the gang. Ash and Paul train together and Drew continues to set up his plan with the mysterious trainer.

"Alright you know the plan," the green haired coordinator said into the phone.

"Look kid we have been over this a ton of times, I got," the mysterious trainer replied.

"Alright good luck," and with that he hung up the phone.

Drew was in the bushes waiting for Ash to come out and train. "Damn it," Drew whispered to himself when he saw that Ash was not alone. He was with Paul, the plan would never work if Paul was there.

"So Ash," Paul said to Ash, "You ready for some more training."

"You know it," Ash replied.

Drew knew he had to get rid of Paul and he knew just the thing. He waited until they past him and jumped out of the bushes. "Hey guys wait up," Drew said calling after the two trainers.

"Huh who's that," Paul asked.

A stern look appeared on Ash's face, "It's Drew," he replied without looking back.

"Hey guys, where are you guys going," Drew asked.

"We're gonna go train, Ash has only three days left until his battle with Cynthia. So as much as I would love to talk about roses and contests," Paul said in a sarcastic tone, "We need to train."

As they were walking away Drew pleaded with them, "Wait, let me train with you guys, I am one the best coordinators out there," Drew said showing his cocky side.

"We don't need it," Ash replied sharply.

Ash kept walking but Paul stopped, Ash turned his head back, "What's wrong Paul?"

"Look Ash, don't let your feelings toward Drew cloud your judgment, even though you don't like the guy, doesn't mean he can't help us train."

Ash rolled his eyes, "Fine but I better not see any roses."

"Hey what are you guys talking about," Drew screamed because he couldn't here what they were saying, "Are you guys gonna let me come or not."

"Yeah, you come but stay out of the way until we need you," Paul ordered.

An evil grin appeared on Drew's face, "Perfect."

The two trainers waited until the coordinator caught up. "Alright lets go," Paul stated.

'Alright, now to put my plan into affect' Drew thought. Drew started to pat his pockets and a guilty look appeared on his face, "Hey guys, I don't want to be a burden but I left all my pokeballs back at the pokemon center."

"So go get them," Ash told him.

"Well I can't go by myself, there's a bunch of wild Ursaring out there," Drew stated.

"He's right Ash, Ursaring are common here," Paul claimed, "Don't worry I'll go with him."

"Just be careful," Ash replied.

"Don't worry, and if we see an Ursaring, then I can call out my Ursaring," Paul said, as if wanting to see an Ursaring.

After they left Ash talked to Pikachu, "I don't trust him Pikachu."

"Pika," Pikachu agreed with a stern look.

Paul and Drew started to walk back to the pokemon center, no words were exchanged by the two but anyone there could feel the tension. At about half way between the pokemon center and where they last saw Ash Drew suddenly stopped walking. 'Time for the plan,' Drew thought. Drew started to put things into his ears and Paul noticed this.

"What are you doing," asked Paul.

"Putting in earplugs," Drew replied calmly.

"Why," Paul shouted at him, knowing something wasn't right.

"You know Paul, if you had just stayed out of my way this would have never happened. But sadly, it's just meant to be."

"Hah, so what are you gonna do, attack me with roses, you're no match for me."

"Who said anything about battling," Drew replied with evil intentions. "Roselia come on out and use GrassWhistle."

"Oh crap, I have to get out of here before it's too late," Paul started to run away but he succumbed to the move and fell asleep.

Drew burst out in laughter, "Perfect, now that he's out of the way I can proceed with the plan." He turned to his pokemon, "Good job Roselia, return." A red light appeared from the pokeball and sucked the pokemon back inside. "Now to dispose of the body, lucky for me I passed an abandon cabin while walking here so I can put him there." Drew picked up Paul and took him to the cabin, he opened the squeaky door and laid him in there. Drew grabbed a piece of wood he found in the cabin and put it on the door, locking him in. He also took his pokeballs with him so he couldn't use them to break out. "I have no use for these, but as long as he doesn't have them," Drew said to himself, leaving the pokeballs outside of the cabin.

"I wonder what's taking them so long Pikachu," the raven haired trainer asked his starter.

"Pi pika pikachu," replied the mouse pokemon.

"Paul can take care of himself, now lets get back to training before Paul and Drew get back."

As if on cue Drew returned, "Hey Ash, I'm back."

Ash turned around, expecting two people but only saw one coordinator. "Where's Paul," Ash asked worriedly.

Sweat started to appear on Drew's forehead, 'Crap' he thought, 'Why didn't I think of something.' Just then a thought came to his head.

"I'm waiting for an answer Drew."

"Oh well you see, a gang of Ursaring attacked us, but Paul took them all on. It was awesome, but unfortunately all of his pokemon were hurt, so I left him at the pokemon center, got my pokemon and ran back here," Drew explained his intricate lie.

'Oh great, I'm stuck with flower girl here,' Ash thought. "Well I hope his pokemon get better, but if it's only you and I, I guess we have to train together," Ash responded.

"Yeah lets do it," Drew replied. 'Man this is too easy, everything is going according to plan,' Drew thought.

... One hour later

"Alright Drew ready for round three," the trainer asked the coordinator.

"Actually I got to get back and do something, so later," and with that Drew ran off.

"He's a weird a guy, right Pikachu."

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

… 30 minutes later

"Well Pikachu, I guess it's time to go back, come on and rest in my backpack."

Pikachu jumped up and landed inside the backpack. It wasn't long before Ash could tell that Pikachu was asleep. Ash kept walking until he reached the pokemon center and as he entered he saw all of his friends.

"Hey guys," Ash said to no one in particular.

Out of no where May stood in front of Ash with red eyes and tears running down her face. She then brought up her hand and slapped Ash in the face, "How could you," she screamed.

Ash was speechless, 'What happened.'

… Two hours earlier

Cynthia was training in her secret, training place. Even though she only knew about this place, she still had surveillance cameras and Scyther guards surrounding the place 24/7. "Alright Roserade, use Energy Ball, Lucario use Aura Sphere," she said calling out attacks. The two attacks made contact with each other and caused a huge explosion, when the dust settled, both the pokemon were knocked out. "Alright, good job you guys, return."

Cynthia then heard some noises outside, she thought it was just the Scyther's playing around. She turned around to see a trainer on the other side of the battle field. She thought that she recognized him but didn't get a good luck before he told one of his pokemon to do one of it's moves.

"Lapras, use mist," the trainer said.

With that the trainer's side was covered in mist and Cynthia couldn't see him.

"Who are you and what do you want," Cynthia asked.

"Shut up," the trainer replied.

'That voice, I know that voice' she thought to herself. "Well if its a pokemon battle that you want, you'll have to wait. My pokemon are pretty weak."

A thunderbolt went right pass her head, "I don't want a pokemon battle, I want your pokemon," the trainer replied.

'This is bad' she thought to herself, 'I only have one pokemon that's not knocked out.' "Come on out Garchomp."

"Not even a challenge, Pika you take this one," the trainer said.

"Pikachu."

"Garchomp jump into the air and use Giga Impact."

"Pika, double team." With that move, twenty different Pikachu's appeared.

"Oh no Garchomp," Cynthia screamed. Unfortunately for Garchomp, it attacked a fake Pikachu and went head first into the ground. But Garchomp wasn't down for the count and stood up.

"You're not even worth my time, but I'll put you out of your misery, Pika Electro Ball," the trainer ordered.

"You fool, don't you know that Garchomp isn't affected by electric attacks," Cynthia boasted.

"You've never fought my Pika," the trainer replied.

Pikachu shot an Electro Ball at Garchomp and it blasted him back into the wall, knocking him out.

"How is that possible," she asked.

"Pika thunderbolt on that disgrace of a champion," he ordered.

"Pi-ka-chu," Pikachu screamed while blasting a thunderbolt at Cynthia.

"Aaaaah," she screamed while electricity coursed through her body.

After the attack she fell down, unconscious. The mist now covered the whole field, completely covering everything on the field. The trainer walked over and took all of her pokemon, he also took Garchomp's pokeball and put it back inside of it. The trainer then walked off without leaving a trace.

… An hour later

Cynthia woke up, still sore from the thunderbolt she took. She had an idea of who it might have been that attacked her, but she wasn't sure. 'I was a fool' she thought, 'He probably tracked me here without me even noticing.' She decided to check the surveillance tapes to see if there was any footage of him. She limped to the surveillance room and looked at the tapes. There was no clear image of him on the field due to the mist, but as he ran outside with her pokeballs, a surveillance recorder caught his backside. She gasped when she saw him, he was wearing a red and black cap, a dark blue jacket and blue jeans. 'That's what Ash wears,' she thought. She grabbed the tape and took it to pokemon center, where Ash was staying. 'Get ready you traitor,' she thought with an angry look.

When she exited the building she saw all but one of her Scyther guards knocked out. 'There was twenty Scyther guards out there and they're almost all taken out, he's on a level that supersedes me.' She climbed on the back of the only conscious Scyther and asked it to take her to the pokemon center where Ash was. It agreed and in no time it made it there. Cynthia thanked the Scyther and walked into the pokemon center.

May was the first to see her, "Oh hey Cynthia," she asked

Just then a love sick breeder appeared from the shadows, "Cynthia my love for you is like a thousand... aaaah" Brock screamed as someone grabbed his ear.

"Yeah yeah, we've heard it before," Max said.

Everyone's attention was now on Cynthia, she had a look on her face that no one had ever seen before. "Where is that no good wannabe champion," Cynthia screamed.

"Ash isn't here right now," Gary replied.

"Well if he's not here then, I must show you what happened. The man you know as Ash Ketchum isn't who you think he is," Cynthia said.

"What do you mean," Ritchie asked

"Here, look at this," Cynthia put the tape into the video phone and played the it.

Everyone huddled around in silence as they looked at the screen. The video picked up audio and when they heard the trainer talk, everyone gasped. The person sounded exactly like Ash, and when they saw the trainer run away, the clothes also matched Ash's clothes. Everyone was stunned, they didn't know what to say, some were in tears. They never thought that Ash would do something like that.

"I don't understand, what does he have to gain by attacking you," Brock asked.

"Once a date has been set for a match against a champion, there is no rescheduling , not even for special occasions like this."

"What a dumb rule," Max stated.

"I know and without my strongest pokemon, he knows I have no chance. But if I have enough proof, I can ban someone from ever challenging the elite four and me," Cynthia explained.

"I can't believe it," Misty said.

"I know Ash would do almost anything to try to become a pokemon master, but this is taking it to far," Gary claimed.

"I don't believe it, Ash would never do something like that," May screamed,

"May look at the tape, who else could it be, it sounds like Ash, it looks like Ash, and he also has a Pikachu and Lapras like Ash," Brock explained.

"But Ash released his Lapras remember," Dawn chimed in.

"Ash actually reunited with Lapras a month ago, he kept it a secret because he was gonna use it as a secret weapon against Cynthia," Brock said.

Then, they turned around to see someone entering the pokemon center, everyone expected Ash, but it was just Drew. "Hey guys what's going on," Drew asked.

Drew looked around the room to see Cynthia pretty beat up. 'So, that mercenary did exactly what I told him to do, this couldn't have gone any better.' Drew thought.

"Drew," May said as she put her arms around him, "Ash attacked Cynthia and took all her pokemon, I just never thought..."

Drew interrupted her, "Its okay," he replied while enveloping her in his arms as well, "I'm here for you, I'm always here for you."

They all waited until Ash would return, they were gonna confront him. After thirty minutes Ash finally returned from his training.

"Hey guys," Ash said to no one in particular.

Out of no where May stood in front of Ash with red eyes and tears running down her face. Then she brought up her hand and slapped Ash in the face, "How could you," she screamed.

Ash was speechless, 'What happened.'

"Ow May what did you do that for," Ash responded.

"You have some nerve Ash," Gary said.

"What do you mean," Ash asked, completely out of the loop.

"We know what you did Ash, it was all caught on tape," Ritchie explained.

"If you mean my training, then I'm flattered that someone would record my training," Ash said trying to figure out what was going on.

"Ash don't play dumb, you attacked me, but you're pretty stupid not to try and disguise your voice or change your clothes," Cynthia replied.

"I never attacked you, I was training all this time," Ash responded trying to defend himself.

"It's all on tape you scum of a trainer," Cynthia said, insulting him.

"Well you talk about a tape, so let me see it," Ash asked.

"It's right over here, see for yourself how you attacked me," Cynthia said.

Ash sat in front of the video phone and watched it all play out, he sat there in horror. After the video was done. Ash stood up and started to talk. "Look you guys I know it looks bad, but that's not me." Just then Ash remembered something that could prove his innocence.

"Drew, you were with me training, tell them that I was training," Ash begged.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I was in the city buying things for next contest," Drew responded, "See," Drew said while showing his bag of contest stuff.

"You liar," just then everything in Ash's head clicked. "It was you, you stalled me so that you could get someone to attack Cynthia that was dressed like me," Ash said accusing Drew.

"Paul, ask him he was there," Ash announced.

"Enough of the excuses Ash, it's over," Max said

"Empty out your backpack Ash," Cynthia asked.

"Why," Ash responded.

"In the video, you took my pokeballs and put them in your backpack, so if you want to protect what little innocence you have left, empty your backpack."

"If it will prove my innocence, then I'll do it," Ash opened his backpack and dumped out all of his stuff in there. Out came a Pikachu, some extra clothes, and six pokeballs.

"What, who's are these," Ash asked.

"They're mine, you took them," Cynthia growled.

"I don't understand, you have to believe me, I was set up," Ash said.

"I never should have trusted you," Cynthia declared.

Ash turned to Brock, "Brock we've been friends for years, you believe me right," Ash pleaded

"I'm sorry Ash," Brock said while turning his head down..

"Ritchie, Max you guys know I would never do this, right," Ash begged.

"Sorry Ash," Ritchie said.

"How could you," Max asked.

Ash turned to Misty and Gary, "Misty I've known you since I began my journey, and Gary I've known you since I was a kid, you believe me right."

"Cut the crap Ash, all the evidence is too much," Gary replied.

A teary eyed Misty spoke, "I...I," she ran into Gary's arms, crying her eyes out.

"Oh and did I mention your banned from ever fighting the elite four or me, so you'll never be champion of Sinnoh," Cynthia said, adding insult to injury.

Ash not paying any attention to Cynthia went to Dawn, "Dawn, I'm guessing you don't believe me either."

"Ash, you've helped me so much during my journey and I'll never forget you, but I don't believe you."

Tears started to appear in Ash's eyes. He turned to the one person he knew would never betray him. "May I would never do this, remember what you said to me a few days ago," Ash begged.

May with tears going down her face opened her mouth to talk, "I guess I was wrong Ash, you're not the person I thought you were," she walked into Drew's arms, "You're no better than Team Rocket."

This was too much for Ash, "Well if all you guys turn your back on me." Ash ran away with tears in his eyes, he exited the pokemon center and ran into the woods.

Ash kept running until he tripped over a tree root. Ash just laid there crying, until he heard a voice.

… 30 minutes earlier

Paul woke up, he looked around to see where he was, from what he could tell, he realized he was in a cabin. "That green haired asshole, when I get my hands on him." He reached into his pockets, looking for his pokeballs, but he was surprised to see that he had none.

"Damn it, he must have took all of my pokemon." He looked at the door, "I bet he locked the door too." Paul got up and rammed the door with his shoulder, but it was no use. The only thing he could do now was scream. "Help, somebody anybody."

Paul continued screaming until he heard something outside. "Hey is someone out there," he yelled. It then hit him, it wasn't a person, it was a pokemon. The hyper beam blasted through the side of the cabin, making a hole for Paul to get out off. An Ursaring entered the cabin from the opening it had created.

"Crap, I need to get out of here, or else I'm Ursaring food."

The Ursaring charged up for another attack but Paul was able to side step him and run out. As he ran out, Paul looked back and saw his pokeballs where Drew had left him. Unfortunately, the Ursaring was right in front of them, he had to find a way to get them. He had an idea, "Hey Ursaring, you want some, come and get some."

The Ursaring roared and started running towards Paul with his claws out. When he got close enough, Paul grabbed some dirt from the ground and threw it at its eyes. The pokemon roared in pain, and while he couldn't see, Paul grabbed his pokeballs and started running back to the pokemon center.

'I need to get back,' he thought, 'Something isn't right.'

"I still can't believe he would do something like that," Brock claimed.

"Yeah it's crazy isn't," Gary replied.

"Yeah and I think May's taking it the worst, she's been in the bathroom for a while now crying," Ritchie stated.

"Yeah, hey guys I'm gonna go outside and get some air okay," Drew said.

"Alright, we'll be right here," Max replied.

Drew walked out with an evil grin, 'Idiots, how easy it is to trick Ash's friends, and I pretty much have May in the palm of my hand. This is perfect.' Drew walked into the woods for a few minutes until he reached the meeting place.

"Hey," Drew called out, "Are you there."

The mysterious trainer appeared out of no where, "Yeah I'm here."

"That was one hell of a job you did out there, you followed the plan perfectly. And since Paul isn't a factor, and Ash is completely out of the way thanks to you." Drew praised.

"It was nothing, and planting those pokeballs in his backpack was my favorite part of the plan. Also wearing his clothes and getting caught by the cameras was a pretty good touch. But enough of that, give me my money," the mysterious trainer ordered.

Drew pulled out a wallet full of money and tossed it to him, "It's all here."

The mysterious trainer caught the wallet and pocketed it, "Thanks kid, it was nice working with you."

"Wait, you never told me you're name," Drew claimed.

"My name is something of my past, but you can call me Romeo Echo Delta."

"Weird name, but you get the job done, goodbye," Drew said as he ran off.

… 5 minutes earlier

May walked out of the bathroom, looking like a mess. "Hey guys, where's Drew," she asked.

"He just walked outside right now, if you walk fast enough you'll be able to reach him," explained Brock.

"Thanks," and with that she ran off in search for Drew.

She ran for a while, but slowed down when she heard voices.

"That was one hell of a job you did out there, you followed the plan perfectly. And since Paul isn't a factor, now Ash is completely out of the way thanks to you." Drew praised.

'What,' she thought, 'This means that Ash was right, Drew did frame him. What does he mean that Paul isn't a factor. I have to tell the others.' She ran off to tell the others about what she heard.

As she reached the pokemon center, she saw Paul also entering the center. "Paul, are you okay, I heard Drew saying something about you not being a factor."

"Yeah I'm fine, bastard used GrassWhistle on me. But I think something is up, and we need to find out what's going on," Paul explained.

"Well I actually know what his plan is," May claimed.

"Really? You have to tell me," Paul pleaded.

"Alright, but lets go inside so I can tell the others," May responded.

They walked into the pokemon center and as usual, the whole gang was there. "Hey guys," Brock said to them.

"Look I need to tell you guys about what I heard Drew said," May responded to them.

May explained everything that happened for Paul's sake, and then told them what she heard Drew say. After everything was said and done, everyone was speechless.

"We need to talk to Drew as soon as he gets back," Gary said.

"Yeah, we can't just jump to conclusions from what May heard," Misty chimed in.

Paul gritted his teeth, fists clenched. "Who are to say not to jump to conclusions, you made a huge leap when you all thought Ash attacked Cynthia."

"Don't point your finger at me, I was there, I know who attacked me and I'm glad that shitty trainer is out of here," Cynthia replied.

Paul gave a death glare to Cynthia, but turned his attention to all of Ash's former friends. "Even now you still doubt him. You never deserved to be Ash's friend if you can turn your back on him so quickly. He trusted you guys, he loved all of you and would have given his life for any one of you and this is how you repay him."

"Paul don't say that," Dawn pleaded.

"Shut up, all of you," Paul screamed. "And you," Paul said pointing at May, "He loved you, and you broke his heart."

"How do you think I feel," May cried with tears rolling down her face.

"And when I see Drew," Paul started saying.

Just then, Drew walked into the pokemon center, (perfect timing right) "Hey guys, what's up," Drew asked.

"You, I'm gonna kill you," Drew violently said while running at him.

Drew was able to let out one word before being tackled by Paul, "Shit."

Paul tackled Drew to the ground, laying into him with his full power. Paul broke his nose, letting blood gush out, Brock knew that Paul was looking to kill and he had to stop it.

Brock was able to grab Paul off and held onto him, barely able to hold onto him by enveloping his arms around Drew's body.

"Calm down Paul," Brock ordered.

"Shut up, I need to end this," Paul responded.

"Sparky use ThunderShock," Ritchie called out to try and stop Paul.

The attack hit them both straight on, sending them to their knees. While they were on the ground Drew saw this as a chance to escape.

"Glaceon, come on out and use ice beam on Drew," May called out.

The attack froze everything but Drew's head, leaving him immobilized. "Alright Drew, I heard what you said in the woods, explain your plan," May ordered.

"I don't know what you talking about," Drew innocently said.

"Look," Paul called out from the floor, recovering from the attack, "I can call out my Weavile and tell it to claw your eyes out, or you tell us about this plan you had."

Drew knew he was stuck, he tried one last thing, "May I love you, let me out of here and we can be together."

"Shut up Drew and tell us your plan," May screamed.

A defeated look appeared on Drew's face, "Alright I'll tell you what happened."

Drew explained his entire plan, how he hired a mercenary, put Paul asleep, and stalled Ash so he wouldn't have an alibi.

"But why would you do this Drew," May pleaded.

"I knew you also loved that Ketchum kid, and I couldn't have him take you away from me," Drew responded.

"I can't believe it," May said as she grabbed one of her pokeballs. "Blaziken come on out and defrost Drew."

"May what are you doing," asked Misty.

"Look at him, he's been broken. Any pain that we give him now won't compare to the pain in his heart right now," May responded.

Drew had tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry you guys." Drew then ran away with tears flowing down his face.

"Ash was right, and I took his opportunity of becoming a pokemon champion," Cynthia said.

Paul then started to walk towards the door, but May thinking that he was gonna chase Drew called after him. "Paul stop, he's been hurt enough."

Paul turned his head, "I'm not gonna chase after him, I just can't stand the sight of all of you. I'm gonna go see look for Ash, I suggest you leave him alone, he probably hates all of you right now."

With that, Paul walked away, leaving all of them to reflect on what happened the past few hours.

"He probably does hate us," May said aloud while her eyes were getting watery.

"I wouldn't blame him May," Brock said and then whispered to himself, "I wouldn't blame him."

Ash lied there with tears running down his face. Something ran through his body that he had only felt with a couple people. Hatred. He hated them, he hated them all, Misty, Brock, Dawn, Gary, Max, Ritchie, May, and especially Drew. 'Why May, you made me feel like someone special, then you turned your back on me,' he thought.

"Pika," Pikachu said trying to make Ash feel better.

"Don't worry Pikachu, we'll find somewhere else to go, but where. Mom died a few years ago and besides, I wouldn't want to go back to Pallet with that wanna be professor who couldn't make the cut as a trainer. I just don't know what to do," Ash screamed while crying.

"Come with us," a voice from the bushes said.

"What who's there," Ash said while jumping to his feet.

Meowth, Jesse, and James came out of the bushes, looking very forgiving.

"Pika," Pikachu said while charging up a ThunderShock.

"No Pikachu, wait," Ash yelled.

Pikachu relaxed and then Jesse spoke. "Ash..." but she was interrupted.

"Please don't call me that, not because I don't want you too, but that's a name that brings to many bad memories. Just keep calling me twerp," Ash said, still crying.

Jesse continued, "Okay, twerp we've seen everything that's happened during the past few days, and I know you must feel very alone right now."

James started to talk, "And you said that there is nowhere for you to go."

"And you want me to go with you?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, but if you don't want to come with us, we understand dat to," Meowth explained.

Ash pulled out the thing he kept in his pocket at all times, the Terracotta Ribbon. He looked at it one more time and threw it to the ground.

Ash looked back and saw the path he had ran on when he ran out of the pokemon center. As if saying goodbye to his past life he whispered something to himself, and then turned to Jesse, James, and Meowth and spoke.

"Let's go."


	4. The Darkness Takes Over

Chapter Four: The Darkness Takes Over (Originally written by itssupereffective)

* * *

"Giovanni," a blonde haired girl said as she walked into the room.

"Yes Domino speak," the leader of Team Rocket responded.

"Jesse, James, and Meowth have returned," Domino explained.

"So what, this type of thing has no importance to me," Giovanni replied.

"You see the thing is that they recruited a new member for Team Rocket," Domino alleged.

Giovanni started to get angry, "Anyone one who was able to convinced to join Team Rocket by those idiots must not be that strong, and why not just send him to the training facility."

"Giovanni trust me, you won't be disappointed," she pleaded.

"Alright send them in, but I'm expecting someone who has the skills of a master," Giovanni said.

'If only you knew the irony,' she thought, "Alright guys come on in."

James, Jesse, and Meowth walked into the room with a trainer who had a hat to cover his face.

"Alright kid, take off the hat and show yourself," Giovanni ordered.

The trainer slowly lifted his hand to the hat and took it off. Giovanni was speechless, he couldn't even form words.

"You, your A..." Giovanni was gonna say until he was interrupted.

"Don't call be that name, no one call me that anymore," Ash said looking straight at Giovanni.

'His eyes, they're so full of hate,' Giovanni thought, "So mister goody two shoes here wants to join Team Rocket."

"I'm here aren't I," Ash responded.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is just one of your tricks to take down Team Rocket from the inside, as I recall, you have been a nuisance to my gang in the past," Giovanni said.

"Lets us explain," James spoke up.

James, Jesse, and Meowth told the story of what happened to Ash while he was out of the room, the memory of what happened still stung.

"Okay, you can come in now," Jesse called out.

Ash walked back into the room with the hat back on his head.

"So they have told about your situation, and as an exception, I'll let you join Team Rocket but only as a grunt. You have to work your way up, you won't be given any special treatment," Giovanni explained.

"I didn't expect any," Ash responded.

"But first we need to stage your death, we don't want anyone getting curious and following you." He turned to Domino, "Get one of those useless grunts and accidentally burn him to a crisp with your Arcanine. Then start a fire in the woods and put the body in the middle of the fire so that it will be so burned that no one will recognize it. Make sure to put the body in the direction of the way that he ran when left the pokemon center." Giovanni ordered.

Domino followed her orders and left.

"Whatever you think is right for me," Ash replied.

"Okay, Jesse, James, and Meowth, good work on bringing a new recruit, now go continue your duties," Giovanni ordered.

"Yes sir," They all said.

As they were walking out Jesse whispered to James, "So what do we do now that we can't steal the twerps Pikachu," Jesse asked.

"I don't know, I guess we should go steal other people's pokemon," James suggested.

"It won't be da same," Meowth claimed. And with that, they walked away with tears forming in their eyes.

"So, if you don't want us calling by your previous name, what do you want us to call you, we could call you Red or Satoshi," Giovanni asked.

Ash took a second to think about it, "No, those names are too overused, call me Alpha."

"That's more like a codename, but it's your decision." Giovanni said while he got up from his seat. "So is there anything else about you that I should know that doesn't involve your hatred?"

Alpha thought about all the adventures he had throughout his journey and then he suddenly remembered it, "Aura... I have the ability to use aura."

Giovanni couldn't suppress the grin on his face, "That's perfect and I have just the pokemon that can help you. Unfortunately I need to get it from base so I need you to do some work while I retrieve it, " Giovanni said.

"What do you want me to do," Alpha asked bored.

"You get to go on your first mission, Giovanni explained. "Find Jesse, James, and Meowth and go on a mission with them. When your done, report back here."

"Like it matters who I work with, but I'm not gonna do that stupid song that they do and I'm not gonna wear your outfit," Alpha said in a cold voice.

"Just get your job done and we won't have problems, not get out of here," Giovanni ordered.

Alpha walked out, in search for the usual Team Rocket gang.

"Seviper, use poison tail," Jesse yelled

"Carnivine, use bullet seed," James ordered.

"Oh no you don't, Pidgeot use Tornado, a trainer screamed.

Pidgeot's tornado hit Seviper and Carnivine straight on, knocking them out. "You guys are scum, you don't even deserve to have pokemon, and I'm gonna make sure you never hurt anyone ever again. Pidgeot, use Hyper Beam on those Team Rocket scum."

"Well I guess this is it," James said.

"I never thought that it would end like this," Jesse claimed.

"Goodbye you guys," Meowth said crying holding onto Jesse and James.

A voice from the bushes called out an attack, "Meganium, use Protect."

A Meganium appeared in front of the attack and protected the Team Rocket gang.

"Hey who's there," the trainer asked.

"Meganium, use your Hyper Beam."

"What no Pidgeot, get out of the way," he yelled.

Pidgeot tried to fly out of the away but was hit with the attack, knocking it out. "What a weak pokemon, you're the one who doesn't deserve your pokemon," Alpha said, walking out of the bush. "Meganium, use Razor Leaf on the trainer."

"Wait what," the trainer said before being hit by sharp leaves, cutting him up, and knocking him out.

"Thanks Alpha, it wasn't for you we would have been done for," James thanked.

"Shut up, I didn't do it for you, it was an order from Giovanni. Your lives to me mean nothing," Ash explained while taking the other trainers pokemon. "You guys are weak, you never had the guts to attack the trainers and all you did was have huge machines do the work for you."

Ash walked away heading back to Giovanni, leaving the Team Rocket gang to think about what he said.

"Are we really weak," Jesse asked aloud.

"He's right, we spent years trying to get Ash's Pikachu and we could get him," James responded.

"Maybe we should be more like him," Meowth said.

"Here," Alpha said, tossing Giovanni the pokemon he took.

Giovanni looked at the pokeballs, "Well this is a nice surprise, your first day and you got me six new pokemon. Well now that's over, you have a new assignment."

"And what would that be," Alpha asked.

Giovanni grabbed a pokeball from his pocket, "Riolu come out here."

A Riolu appeared from the pokeball, "Ri," the blue and black pokemon said.

"This pokemon will help you control your aura powers," Giovanni said while pointing at Riolu.

"Alright," Alpha said while taking the pokeball from Giovanni's hand, "Return Riolu."

A red beam come out from the pokeball and sucked the pokemon inside.

"You will train with Riolu until you master your aura powers," Giovanni said.

"Yes, and when I do I better not be a grunt," Alpha replied.

"Of course not, now get out of here," Giovanni ordered.

* * *

**Three years later...**

* * *

A man with brown hair looked out the window, gray hairs starting to appear with age. Across from him was a young man, with a cloak to cover his face, dressed in all black, not in a goth or emo way, but in a badass way. On his shoulder was a Pikachu and to the side of him was a Lucario.

"Well Alpha, in the three years that you have been here, you have become the best damn member of Team Rocket I have ever seen. You've mastered your aura, taken out some of my strongest enemies, and got me countless strong pokemon, you have become unbeatable," Giovanni complimented.

"Save the compliments for some one who cares," Alpha explained.

"And so dark too, well I have a mission that I can only give to you. I need you to go to a tournament where there will be hundreds of strong trainers, but I only want the top trainers pokemon. You will enter the tournament and take any strong pokemon you see," Giovanni explained.

"So what's the problem, doesn't sound to hard," Alpha asked.

"Well your former friends Max, Ritchie, and Paul are competing," Giovanni said.

Alpha clenched his fists and his aura surrounded him. He just smirked. "Can't wait."


	5. The Red Dragon is Back

Chapter Five: The Red Dragon is Back (Originally Written by itssupereffective)

Alpha was walking through the woods, with a cloak to cover his face, trying to reach the tournament. Giovanni suggested he take his jet to get there but Alpha declined.

'The woods,' Alpha thought, 'It always felt right here.'

It would take a couple days to get there walking, but he didn't mind. But he also had a job to do to get into the tournament, he had to take one of the competitors out and take his spot.

He chuckled to himself, a dark smile was on his face, 'I wonder who's place I get to take, who knows, it might be someone I lost to in my weak days.'

In the three years, Alpha wasn't the only one who changed, the once happy and adventurous Pikachu was now as cold as Alpha. The small cute Riolu was now a dark but powerful Lucario. Though him and Alpha could speak to each other through aura, they rarely talked.

Since Alpha joined Team Rocket, he didn't have to follow the official pokemon league rules. He had every pokemon he had ever caught on him. All but Pidgeot who was still in charge of protecting the pidgey's and pidgeotto's, Squirtle who was still with the Squirtle Squad, and Butterfree who cared more about getting some than being with his original trainer.

He re-obtained Charizard not long after he joined Team Rocket.

Flashback

"Well Charizard, are you excited to see Ash fight Cynthia," asked Liza.

Charizard roared in agreement as he watched with Liza on the TV she had.

After ten minutes of waiting Charizard was getting furious that he had to wait so long.

Liza saw this and tried to calm him down, "Don't worry Charizard, there probably still setting up all the cameras, I'm sure it will start any minute now."

Charizard calmed down and patiently waited. After a few minutes, instead of seeing the battlefield, Charizard saw Cynthia standing on a podium.

"Ladies and gentleman, there will be no battle between Ash Ketchum and I until further notice. I will not answer any questions, that is all," Cynthia said while walking off with a swarm of reporters following behind her.

"What, I don't believe it, I wonder what happened," Liza asked out loud.

Liza looked at Charizard to see how he was taking it, she saw pure anger in his eyes, smoke was coming out of his nose.

"Charizard, you need to calm down," she pleaded.

Charizard paid no attention to Liza. He knew Ash almost as well as Pikachu and he knew that he would never pass up a chance to fight anyone. Something was going on, and he was gonna find out. Charizard flew into the air and flew to where the battle was supposed to take place. After a few hours of flying he saw three familiar faces, he flew down right in front of them.

"Oh my god, it's a Charizard," James shouted.

"How about we catch it," Jesse suggested.

Charizard paid no attention to them and looked at Meowth and spoke to him.

Meowth paid close attention to what he said and once he heard it he explained it to Jesse and James. "Hey guys, this ain't just any ordinary Charizard, this is da twoips Charizard."

"Huh, really," James replied confused.

"Well what does he want with us," Jesse asked.

"He wants to know if we know where da twoip is," Meowth explained.

"Well we did hear the boss say that he was gonna send him out on a mission to Viridian city," James explained.

Charizard heard this and flew off to Viridian city as quickly as he could. He didn't understand the boss part, but he didn't care. After another few hours, he finally reached the city, but Charizard was in bad shape, he was exhausted. He didn't know where to start, but he heard a guy scream, so he decided to go that way. When Charizard got there, he saw a man in all black on one side, and a regular trainer on the other.

He heard a cold voice, "Pikachu, use ThunderShock on the trainer."

Charizard couldn't believe what the guy in black just said, and he wouldn't allow it. Charizard flapped his wings as fast as he could and sent the thundershock in another direction.

The man in black just raised an eyebrow, "So it looks like we have someone else here, you," he said to the trainer he aimed the thundershock at, "Get out, consider it a second chance cause I got a better battle ahead of me."

The trainer didn't think twice and ran away. The man in black then spoke. "So who's there?"

Charizard thought this was his cue and stepped out. He glared at the man in black while walking out.

"Well I never thought that my own Charizard would go against me, or did you not recognize me," Alpha said as he removed his cloak to show his face.

Charizard was in shock he couldn't believe it, it was Ash. At the same time it wasn't him, he was so dark and his eyes were now a black hole of nothingness.

"Well if you haven't heard, I'm a part of Team Rocket now, it's a long story and it still hurts to much to explain," Alpha explained.

Charizard was just standing there taking in what he had just heard, he didn't know what to do.

"Well if your just gonna stand there and not say anything, I'm gonna give you an option. Join me on Team Rocket and we can be together again, or leave me like everyone else did. But I must warn you, if you leave now, I don't want to see you ever again. Go back to Liza and stay with her. It's your choice."

Charizard couldn't believe what he had just said, on one hand he didn't want to lose Ash, on the other he didn't want to join Team Rocket.

"Here," he said holding out a pokeball, "This is your pokeball, I'm gonna throw it at you, either accept it or don't."

Alpha threw the pokeball to Charizard. To Charizard it felt like an eternity, if he wanted he could just flap his wing and send the pokeball back. He didn't know what to do.

Just then the pokeball hit him, sucking him in. Charizard just smirked as he was sucked in.

"So, it looks like you got a new friend Pikachu," he said.

Pikachu just looked at the pokeball with a determined face.

End of flashback

"Well I guess it's time to go hunting for a pass for the tournament," Alpha said aloud.

Just then he heard another voice from behind a tree, a trainer jumped out. "Hey you, are you also on your way to the tournament."

'Well this is almost too easy,' he thought, "You could say that, are you battling in it?"

A smile appeared on his face, "You bet, I'm Barry from Twinleaf and I will become champion."

Alpha just help but burst out in laughter. "Well I must say, I haven't laughed in years but you were able to make me laugh. I mean what are the odds."

This angered Barry, "Well I don't know what you mean by odds but if you don't stop laughing I'll fine you. But anyways why don't we have a battle."

'I was just gonna find someone take their pass and leave them in a coma, but I have a better plan to humiliate him,' he thought. "Well you see I just started my journey and I only have my Pikachu as you can see but I have a proposition for you," Alpha suggested.

"Huh, I used to know someone who had a Pikachu, but enough of that, what's your proposition."

"Well how about my Pikachu against your strongest pokemon, and if I win I get your tournament pass, and if you decline," an evil smile went across his face, "I'll fine you."

That did it for Barry. "No one steals my catchphrase, I accept."

'Idiot,' Alpha thought, "Alright Pikachu, you know what to do."

"Okay, come on out Empoleon, lets begin. Empoleon use Drill Peck.

"Pikachu Electro Ball."

As Empoleon was rushing Pikachu, the Electro Ball hit him head on and sent him back a few yards.

"On no, we're not giving up yet, Empoleon use Hydro Cannon."

"Pikachu dodge and use Volt Tackle."

Pikachu easily avoided the hydro cannon and hit him head on with the volt tackle. Empoleon was able to get up but barely, he was breathing heavily.

"But how, I don't understand," Barry asked.

"Never underestimate your opponent, now to finish this, Pikachu use Thunderbolt," Alpha said.

"What no Empoleon get out of there," Barry yelled.

The attack hit Empoleon, knocking him out. "No I can't believe I lost, and to someone who just started his journey too," Barry cried.

Alpha walked over to him and spoke, "It's over, now give me it."

Barry reached into his pocket and pulled out his pass, "Here take it, if I can't beat you then there's no point in competing in the tournament anyways."

Alpha took the pass, "It was a pleasure." He then walked off, on his way to the tournament, leaving Barry on the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

… Two days later

Alpha was almost at the place where the tournament was being held, from where he was he could see the stadiums. "Well I guess we're almost there Pikachu."

"Pika pi," Pikachu replied.

'Master, we are gonna see them there,' Lucario asked him.

"I know, and as much as I would love to destroy Max and Ritchie, I must keep my identity a secret. Giovanni didn't fake my death for nothing. Anyways I can see the hotel where our reservations are at, lets go."

Alpha, Lucario, and Pikachu walked into the hotel, due to the tournament it was pretty crowded. They just walked through the lobby and made it to the front desk.

"Reservation for Alpha," he said to the hotel worker.

The hotel worker looked up from the computer and shivered, she didn't like the feel of this guy and the fact that she couldn't see his face didn't help. She typed in his name on the computer and found his reservation.

"Here it is," she said while giving him the key, "Have a nice day."

Alpha smirked, "I will."

Alpha looked down to see what room number he had, floor 9, room 14. 'Might as well check it out, I'm gonna be here a while."

Alpha walked up the stairs and went into his room, one bed, a couch, a TV, and of course a mini bar. "Might as well take a nap, I'm tired and I haven't slept much the past few days, you guys should rest too, we're going out when I wake up."

"Pika," Pikachu said as he slept next to Alpha.

"Lu," Lucario said as he slept on the couch.

Dream

Alpha was standing in the middle of the forest, next to Giovanni. May, Brock, Misty, Gary, Ritchie, Dawn, Max, and Drew were all tied up in front of him begging for mercy, on the edge of a cliff.

"Please Ash were sorry."

"We were wrong to doubt you."

"Don't do this Ash."

They all begged, but all Alpha did was laugh. "Idiots, after everything you've done to me you think I'm just gonna let you go. No, I'm gonna end this once and for all."

Alpha's hand was surrounded by a blue aura. He went in front of Brock and with no remorse, slammed his fist into his face, sending him flying off the cliff. He did the same to all the others but did something different with May.

He went up to May, "Please Ash, I'm sorry I was wrong but don't do this," she said while tears were streaming down his face. Ash smiled and kissed her on the cheek, then just like all the others, he hit her off the cliff.

After he did that, he felt like someone was electrocuting him. He screamed out loud until he woke up from Pikachu's ThunderShock.

"What the hell Pikachu, I was having a great dream and you ruined it," Alpha explained.

"Pika," Pikachu said pointing at the darkened sky.

"Huh, I guess I slept more than I thought," Alpha said while getting up. He then looked at the couch, "Looks like Lucario is still asleep, leave him like that, I want to use some other pokemon tonight."

Alpha walked out from his room with Pikachu on his shoulder. As he was in the elevator by himself, he spoke to Pikachu, "Well Pikachu, the tournament doesn't start for a few days, might as well have some fun with those so called trainers."

"Pika pi," Pikachu replied excitedly.

They walked out of the hotel and into the woods in search of trainers. "We don't want to bring too much attention to ourselves so lets just find an isolated trainer," Alpha explained.

Pikachu nodded in agreement. They kept searching until they heard someone training with their pokemon.

"Well Pikachu, I guess we found our first victim," Alpha observed while quietly walking towards the trainer. "I'm gonna use Charizard for this one," he said to himself.

He slowly walked into the sight of the other guy and stood there until he was noticed. The guy jumped in frightfulness, he didn't expect anyone else.

"Hey you over there," he said pointing at Alpha, "Who are you and what's your name."

Alpha smirked, "I'm just a wandering trainer who has too much time on his hands. And my name, my name is Alpha, but my friends call me, well I don't have any friends."

"Alright Alpha, if your here then I guess you want a battle right?" He asked.

"Yeah a battle," Alpha said with a devilish smile.

The trainer dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball, "Well then, come on out Blaziken."

This immediately sent Alpha a wave of anger. 'A Blaziken, I hate Blaziken's. It's always been that pokemon that has brought nothing but trouble. May had one and Harrison had one as well.' It suddenly hit Alpha.

"Hey is your name Harrison," Alpha asked.

"Well I must be getting famous," Harrison joked. "Yeah that's my name."

Alpha was couldn't help but crack a smile at this. He would finally get a rematch. "Charizard come on out."

Alpha's Charizard came out and saw who he was fighting. He instantly saw the Blaziken and remembered him from way back in Johto. His face turned from bored to intense in a second. Unfortunately for Blaziken he also remembered Charizard and shivered at the sight him. His eyes were so intense it felt like it was burning holes in Blaziken.

"Alright, lets begin," Alpha said coldly. "Charizard use Dragon Breath."

"Blaziken dodge and use Flamethrower."

Blaziken avoided the attack and shot a flamethrower at Charizard.

"Charizard you can take the heat, fly through the fire and use Steel Wing."

"Blaziken get out of the way."

The steel wing hit Blaziken straight on and sending him right into the tree.

"Blaziken get up."

Blaziken slowly was able to get up but was hit with something unexpected.

"I'm not gonna let you get up so easily, use Dragon Breath, non stop," Alpha ordered.

"Try and get out of the way Blaziken."

Blaziken tried to move but was pushed up against the tree and being hit by Dragon Breath immobilized him. Blaziken cried out in pain, he couldn't move.

Harrison saw this and he couldn't take it, "Alpha call your Charizard off, I give up."

"Alright Charizard stop your attack, but give him a going away present," Alpha ordered.

Charizard ended his attack but flew to Blaziken. He just smirked and gave him a Fire Punch, sending him crashing through the tree.

"Hey what the hell, I gave up you cold bastard," Harrison insulted.

Alpha eyeballed him, "Your weak, show no mercy or else you'll get nowhere. Besides, your pokemon aren't even worth taking."

Alpha walked away back to the pokemon center. After he left Harrison went over to his pokemon. "He's gotten a lot stronger hasn't he."

"Blaze."

"But he's not that good at disguises. I guess he's not dead, Ash."

Alpha was walking back to the hotel, playing the match over and over in his head. 'I always did want a rematch with him, and I can't believe my former self lose to that guy years ago,' he thought.

Right about he was gonna enter his hotel, he heard a familiar voice.

"I saw what you did back there," the guy said.

Alpha immediately recognized the voice and responded, "Knowing you, I thought you would be proud of what I did.

The man shook his head, "I'm not that guy anymore. Besides, what happened to that happy, full of life kid I used to know."

"He died in that fire, didn't you hear," Alpha explained.

"Do you expect me to believe that bullshit. I'm not as gullible as your weak minded friends," the guy replied.

"They're not my friends, and how did you find me, I thought I covered all my tracks when I faked my death," Alpha explained.

"I promised myself I would find you, and I know that you wouldn't die in such a shitty way Ash," the guy said.

"Well here I am, what are you gonna do now, Paul," Alpha said grinning.


	6. Meet the New Boss

_Chapter Six: Meet the New Boss (Written by myself)_

* * *

_Well hello there. If you're reading this far, congratulations! You've made it to the part where I write it from now on. If you read the original story from itssupereffective, you'll probably note how similar this is to the chapter of that. Besides the change of chapter names (Which will now probably be song references, whoever can guess what song this one is from (And next chapter too is officially amazing.), I've changed the way Paul agrees to join Team Rocket. Normally, he is reluctant and only does so to try to "fix" Ash, but I've made him nearly as bitter toward the traitors as Ash had. It goes along with my plot a little better. As the story progresses,it will grow more different. TO try to imagine it, think of the letter Y. From the bottom to the delta in the Y, its straight, hence the shared chapters that came before this. Then it starts off a little distance apart, which is now, but gets more and more so at the top. Metaphors- the more you know._

_One other quick note. I joined the Advancers forum a while back while I was still thinking about whether I should do this story. They've welcomed me and its home for me over there, so I encourage all you Advancers who aren't on there already to go and check it out. Google Advancers Proboards, it should come right up. You can find me on there: ResidentThatGuy._

_One other thing. This chapter is very short. I always try to write long chapters, but when I hit around 2000 in one, that's all I can do. I'll try to make them as lengthy as I can without ruining them._

_Without further ado, the gates have opened to my undertaking of itssupereffective's original story. May it be half as good as the original, and I shall refer to it as a success._

* * *

Paul woke up quickly, standing up all to quickly and nearly losing his balance. When he did, a rush of pain came to his head and he had to sit back down as black spots danced in front of his eyes. He managed to make out some kind of shadow walking toward him.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." The dark figure said.

"Ash, you better tell me what I'm doing he-where am I?"

"Relax, Paul. You're in my room, you passed out after last night."

"Last night…" Paul thought, slipping into a memory of the events of last night.

"I saw what you did back there," Paul said.

"Knowing you, I thought you would be proud of what I did." Alpha said sarcastically with a chuckle.

Paul shook his head and laughed. "I'm not that guy anymore. Besides, what happened to that happy, full of life kid I used to know."

"He died in that fire, didn't you hear," Alpha explained.

"Do you expect me to believe that bullshit. I'm not as gullible as your weak minded friends," Paul replied.

"They're not my friends, and how did you find me, I thought I covered all my tracks when I faked my death," Alpha explained.

"I promised myself I would find you, and I know that you wouldn't die in such a shitty way Ash," Paul said.

"Well here I am, what are you gonna do now, Paul," Alpha said grinning.

"Me? Nothing? You? You better start talking and telling me exactly what the hell happened to you.

"I told you. After my old "friends" left me for dead, I made sure that they thought that's exactly what they did. My new friends and I became all powerful, which is why I'm here, actually."

"Slow down. What new friends?"

Alpha chuckled. He told Paul everything, all his adventures in Team Rocket, becoming the second in command, his mission here, everything. As he told his epic journey, an evil smile never left his face, even when he talked about his "friends".

"Never would have expected someone like you to join those people. I always imagined the only time I'd heard anything about you in them is when I hear you destroyed them. You went and joined a team that stood for everything you hate?" Paul said, half angry and half genuinely confused.

"Hated, Paul, not hate. They were there for me in my weakest moment, when nobody, not my friends, not my best friends, not the love of my life. They were, they took me in and most importantly, they made me stronger. The strongest of them all. They made me into the man I am today, and I'm damn proud of that man."

"I can't say I blame you. Those bastards put you through hell."

"You're absolutely right. Speaking of which, I don't remember how you acted when you were there. Were you there?"

"No, I found them a short while after you fled. Some of those idiots still thought you were guilty, even after Drew admitted to everything. I haven't talked to them since. I think you might be the only person who hates them more than I do."

"In that case Paul, I think you and I will be fine."

"I almost feel like helping you steal these pathetic weaklings' Pokemon." Paul said, chuckling at the aspect.

Alpha's smile grew wider. If he could get Paul to join him, this would be even more fun. "Well then, why don't you?"

Paul thought for a moment. "Team Rocket and I, I think, were never meant to be friends. He said, looking down with a grim expression.

"Perhaps I can change your mind." Alpha chuckled as his fist grew bright blue as a large and powerful aura grew around it. He turned around, facing paul, who's eyes widened in fear.

"What are you doing?" Paul said.

Alpha put his hand on Paul's head and his eyes shut. He didn't say anything else.

"Now I remember." Paul said, squinting as he rubbed his aching head.

"Let me fix that." Alpha said, as his hand grew a light shade of orange and he placed it on Paul's forehead. Instantly, the pain was gone and Paul felt as good as new.

"I'm not going to lie, that's pretty amazing." Paul said, shocked at the power Alpha had.

Paul took a second to think about last night. Alpha had offered to let him join Team Rocket as his partner. Maybe this would be his chance to finally get revenge on those pathetic people who called themselves Ash's friend. He could be there for Ash, who he now held a mutual respect for. If nothing else, Alpha could help him train for the competition.

"I'll join you, Alpha." Paul said confidently.

"Changed out mind, have we? Excellent. I'll alert Giovanni immediately. Alpha said, reaching into a pocket of his pitch black cloak. He pulled out a small disc shaped item and threw it on the floor. Paul watched as the center opened up and a holographic screen displayed directly in front of them.

There was static for a few seconds, before the image of a man in a brown trench coat sitting at a desk with his back to the camera appeared. He slowly wheeled his chair to face Alpha and Paul. He smiled when he realized his master agent was calling him, but he was confused as to the identity of the boy he was with. He decided it was best not to dwell on the unknown now.

"Alpha, it's good to hear from you. I take it you've made it to the tournament successfully."

"Yes sir, no trouble at all getting a pass from a weak trainer. Arceus knows how he even got one."

"It's amazing how pathetic today's trainers are compared to the likes of us, isn't it."

"Quite so. I'll bet you're wondering who my friend here is." Alpha said, gesturing to Paul.

"I am indeed, has he been a trouble to our mission?" Giovanni said intimidatingly, causing Paul to gulp audibly.

""No no, not at all. In fact, he is the only one who was able to discover my true identity. He is strong, stronger than any of those pathetic weaklings, and he feels about them the same way I do." Alpha laughed as he thought of how much he hated those traitors. "I was hoping he could join us in the mission as a partner of mine."

Giovanni smiled. If his number one agent, who he thought to not have a compassionate bone in his body left, thought highly of a trainer, he must be phenomenal. "Of course, Alpha. Any friend of yours is welcome in our organization. I'm sure you'll do even better than expected with a partner."

Alpha smiled. "Thank you, sir. Paul," he started, reaching his hand out to the purple-haired trainer. "Welcome aboard." He said smiling as he shook his hand.

"Excellent." Giovanni said. "I'll be sure to send you a second bag of equipment for agent Paul. Alpha, I expect you to give our new agent a full briefing of the mission."

"Absolutely sir."

"Excellent. Proceed as planned, and don't draw too much attention to yourself."

"Will do." Alpha said, pressing a button on the device causing the screen to shrink back as Alpha picked up the disc.

"Looks like we have much to discuss, agent Paul."

Paul smiled. He could get used to hearing people call him Agent.

"Let me tell you the mission. Part of it is for me to compete in this competition, because I need to put those traitors back in their place, show them they are not nearly as powerful as they'd like to imagine. But we're also here to take some Pokémon. Only the strongest of the strong, from only the strongest trainers. I hope your battling skills have improved, because there'll be a whole lot of that going on as well. Shouldn't be a problem, nobody here is even a fraction of the level necessary to leave any kind of mark on me or my Pokémon."

"Someone's got an ego." Paul said, smirking.

Suddenly, Paul felt his feet get pulled quickly from under him and he tumbled to the ground, groaning. He looked up to see Alpha with a glowing blue hand.

"Well deserved, of course." Alpha said, smiling, though Paul couldn't really tell with the black cloak completely hiding his face.

"How the hell do you do that, anyway?" Paul asked, rubbing the back of his head where it had contacted the ground.

"My Aura? I was born with it, but it wasn't until after I became who I am that I learned to control it, channel it, use it with maximum power. All thanks to this guy." Alpha said, pulling out a pokeball from his cloak and releasing the Pokémon inside.

"Master, how may I be of service?" The blue aura Pokémon asked immediately."

"Hey, a lucario. And…did I just hear that thing talk?"

"You did. Lucario have the ability to talk to those born with special auras through aura connection. Through extensive training, we've learned to extend our power to whoever we want to be able to hear him."

"Master Alpha has trained all of his Pokémon to their maximum power, to a fearful point at times." The aura Pokémon explained to the purple-haired trainer, who still had a look of disbelief on his face that any of this was actually happening.

"I'll say one thing. If I had known you would end up being such a badass when you were still that little kid, I wouldn't have messed with you nearly as much as I did."

"And if I had known the same, I wouldn't have even been that upset when the traitors left me for dead."

"Speaking of which, my friend, why the fake death? Had to break their hearts?" Paul questioned, sarcastically.

"Ha. Those idiots deserve far worse than I could ever give them. But that fiasco is a story for another time."

"Seems like all you have is stories, and you're gonna tell me them." Paul demanded

"Like I said, for another time."

"We got time, Ash. We got all the time we could ever need."

"Wanna stop calling me that?"

"I'll call you what I want. Would you prefer Ashy-kins?"

"Keep it quiet when we're in public."

"Deal."

"Alright, you want to hear the story? Take a seat and grab a drink. You won't be getting up for a while."

"Like I said, we got time."

* * *

_ISU, if you're reading this, I hope I haven't failed you. If you're not the original author, and you liked it, hated it, were indifferent, want my head on a skewer, leave it in a review. I'm pretty chill. Try and guess the title's song. PM me for suggestions._

_Note: I normally hate putting in OC's (Nothing personal, just I think fanficton is best left to the characters in the original media.) but I might be unable to write this without some in the future. I don't need any now and probably won't for a little while, but keep it on the radar._

_Until next time, _

_The Resident That Guy_


	7. Same as the Old Boss

_Hello! First and Foremost, about the few weeks without updates. To begin, no I am not giving up on this story, now or ever. Final exams are just over a week away and combined with sport seasons coming to an end, I've been horribly busy. I've tried to make up for it by making this chapter a little longer (Though I find it to be hard and the last part was a slight bit rushed)._

_Secondly, this chapter is a placeholder chapter, mostly. It's purpose is to set up the rest of the story so I can jump right in with the plot, hence the rushed final scene. It's meant so that later in the story if I re-introduce something from here, I don't waste space having to go over it. From this point forward, the plot, dialogue and all that will start to take off._

_No advanceshipping yet, only a little counter-shipping (you'll see what I mean later) but fear not, we'll get there, hopefully sooner rather than later._

_This chapters title relates to the last one, and whoever can guess the song that inspired both of them gets to be the champion of the world until the next winner, hehe._

_So ends this chapter's announcements. ~Enjoy!~_

* * *

Chapter Six: Same as the Old Boss

* * *

_Flashback..._

* * *

**Three years earlier…**

* * *

_Alpha stood on top of a cliff overlooking a vast canyon, alone aside from Pikachu, perched atop his shoulder. It had been four days since he had officially joined Team Rocket, and tomorrow he left for his first official mission as part of said Team._

_"I can't wait to get away from everything and forget about everything, buddy."_

_"Pika." The yellow creature said, nodding._

_"I still can't believe I ever called those people my friends. They wouldn't know a friend if one walked up and punched them in the head. Which is exactly what I'll do if I ever see them again. They never deserved to be with me. Those arrogant, lying, selfish little…" He started, abruptly cutting himself off._

_"Ah, I'm doing it again. Stay calm, Alpha, stay calm." He said, reaching for his pokeball and releasing a Riolu from it._

_"Riiiio!" The small blue creature said enthusiastically. It saw its trainer being very still with its eyes shut and knew what he was doing. He sensed an angry and painful aura emanating from him and tried to calm it._

_After a few several, long minutes, the aura dissipated and Alpha took a deep breath. "I'm better." He said, wasting no time before returning the aura Pokémon to its pokeball._

_"I hate them Pikachu, more than I'll be able to express."_

* * *

**Presently...**

* * *

"Can't say I blame you for that." Paul said, leaning back on his chair. "So the Riolu couldn't talk to you with that aura or something? How'd you figure that out?

"Long hard training, my friend." Alpha said looking out the window.

* * *

Flashback...

* * *

**2 weeks after the previous flashback...**

* * *

_"I know you can do it, Riolu! Charge up an aura sphere and hold it as long as you can!" Alpha said excitedly._

_The blue aura Pokémon charged up a bright blue ball that grew exponentially in size until it was humungous, before it faded and the creature fell to the ground._

_"Ok…maybe we should…" Alpha started, walking toward his Pokémon._

_Before he made it there, the Pokémon was enveloped in a blinding white light that surrounded his entire body. Alpha saw the silhouette grow larger and taller before the light finally went away, revealing a new figure behind the glow._

_"Hello, master." The figure said._

_"Well what do you know, you evolved! Nice job lucario! And good job with the language too."_

_"I can speak with you with your aura, master."_

_"Hey I'm not your master, I'm your friend, okay?" Alpha said, kneeling down and smiling._

_"Of course, Master." The Lucario replied, also kneeling down._

_Alpha smiled and sighed. "Is it just me you can talk to, or everyone?" He questioned._

_"I can only communicate verbally with those who were born with special auras such as yours, unless I manipulate their auras or lend them some of my own power to understand me._

* * *

_Later that day…_

* * *

_Giovanni's face appeared on the holographic screen._

_"Alpha! It's good to hear from you, are you doing alright? And is that a lucario- have you evolved your Riolu?" Giovanni said beaming at his favorite Agent._

_"I have, and we may have figured out how to allow Lucario to talk to any human."_

_"I can communicate with all people who were either born with special auras or those whose auras I can manipulate to understand me."_

_Giovanni's eyes widened in shock. "Well that's just absolutely incredible, isn't it? I trust this will aid in all of your missions."_

_"Of course, sir."_

_"If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to call."_

_"Thank you, sir." Alpha said, turning off the hologram._

* * *

**Presently...**

* * *

"Interesting. So when that thing talks, it's controlling my aura? Seems a little creepy…" Paul began.

"He won't hurt you, no need to worry." Alpha said, tensing up noticeably after saying the second sentence.

"What's the matter?" Paul asked, standing up.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Alpha said, trying to end this conversation before it started.

"You don't look fine. Why the sudden cringe?"

"I'm good. It's just that…one of the traitors always used to say that…the one with blue hair. Brings back the feelings, you know?"

"Dawn did seem to use that phrase a lot."

"Yeah she did."

"So what 'feelings' do those words bring back to you?"

"Abandonment, fear, hatred, heartbreak, the usual." Alpha said, surprisingly calm and straightforward.

* * *

_Flashback..._

* * *

**3 Years ago: approx. 10 minutes after the betrayal, in the raining night...**

* * *

_Running…running…running. That was all that Ash was capable of doing, of thinking about, as he ran and ran for what seemed like hours in the pouring rain, Pikachu on his shoulder. Tears flowed from his face like a faulty faucet as he ran until he thought he was safe._

_Safe from his friends, his enemies, his betrayers, the people who have hurt him beyond all hope of repair. His head fell to his knees as he sobbed. They had taken everything. His pride, his happiness, his heart…May…his friendship, trust, and of course, his dream of becoming champion. He was so high…and so far had he fallen after a push from his friends._

_How was he feeling? He'd have to make a new word for it, a word that can't be used for anything else. What he felt was pure, untapped heartbreak in its most concentrated form. And it did not feel pleasant. And now he had nothing._

_"How could they…hurt me?" He repeated to himself in between horrific sobs. "How…how…how…"_

_All of his sadness and heartbreak turned to rage and anger as he stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs, kicking a tree with all of his might. He calmed, breathing heavily with fists clenched before returning to normal and walking along a path._

_He came to a clearing before sitting down, thinking over everything, but mostly May. He never would have guessed Team Rocket would be there too, and that they had something to talk to him about._

* * *

**Presently...**

* * *

"Well that was cheerful." Paul said, nodding his head in fake seriousness.

"Oh, you bet! I was so positively giddy that I went around spreading the love- to the pathetic, weak trainers who dared cross my path for the last years." Ash said, the second part of the sentence dramatically getting colder in an almost sarcastic slope."

"So you just spent your last few years running around and harassing people? Sounds like my kind of work." Paul said with a half-smile, half-smirk.

"Less harassing, more like showing those idiots how good they really are." Alpha said, walking away to the other side of the room to look out the window. "It really is amazing how one can change and discover their true power, even after a horrible event like a betrayal happens." It's odd; I used to feel said and lonely, now I feel nothing but powerful and strong.

"You never wondered what they thought?"

"I did, but why should I now? It's probably nothing except how they'll kill off the next fool in their group who made the rookie mistake of trusting those scum." Alpha said, kicking a bin over at the last word.

"I used to care…" Alpha said, sitting back down and facing Paul."

* * *

_Flashback..._

* * *

**Approx. 2 and a Half Years Ago, during a training session...**

* * *

_Alpha stood there, a fearfully large blue ball of pure aura energy forming at his fingertips, already surpassing himself in size, but Alpha controlled it like it was an extension of his hand. Without breaking a sweat, he drew his arm back and thrust it toward a target he had set up 50 meters away in the large clearing._

_Alpha let go suddenly, and the blue ball of aura went flying at an impossible speed toward the target before the ball completely enveloped the target as a white glow emanated from the site as the target seemed to dissolve before the very eyes of Alpha, Jessie, James, Pikachu, and Meowth._

_When the light cleared, as to be expected, the target seemed to be vanished. One wouldn't be able to tell there was once a structure there if not for the large crater in the ground that had formed from the sheer power of the blast._

_Alpha smiled, pleased with his abilities. He glanced over at the ex-Rocket trio, who were now holding up large cards with large "10's" on them to show what they thought of the latest performance._

_"Well I'll tell ya' one thing, I'd sure hate to be one of them twerps who betrayed you now that I see what you can do wit' dat' aura." Meowth said in a scared voice, eyes wide._

_"I agree. The twerps will be in for a real surprise when and if they dare show their faces around us, Alpha." James said, recovering from the shock from the events he had witnessed._

_"They'd better…" Alpha said, his face visibly darkening as he shut his eyes and looked down._

_"Hey, what's da' matter boss?" Meowth asked?_

_"You'd think that after all this time I'd forget about them and what they did. But it still feels like the moment after it happened where you guys found me. I still feel betrayed and forgotten, still hurt from the scars they left. I hope it goes away soon, I never want to give them the satisfaction of having me feel anything besides hatred for them."_

_A minute passed which seemed like an eternity to the ex-Rocket trio, who stood there glancing at each other not really knowing what to do or what to say. They were relived, therefore, when Alpha straightened up and threw a smaller orb of energy at a tree, a smile returning to his lips._

_"See that tree?" Alpha asked. The Rockets shook there heads. truth be told, there was no tree left to be seen._

___"That's May." Alpha said coldly, walking off with Pikachu following close behind and the ex-Rockets running to catch up._

* * *

**Presently...**

* * *

"Well, damn. Are you really going to attack her?" Paul asked.

"If she and I happen to be alone at night, she'd better be very careful where she steps."

"Well it's still pretty early. I have enough time to walk around before the tournament begins tomorrow."

"So do I. Let's go see if there are any not awful trainers in this building."

* * *

**A few minutes later...**

* * *

Alpha and Paul walked past the main lobby toward the door, looking around at the trainers who glared at them.

"You think they heard what I did to Barry?" Alpha whispered.

"Yeah, that's the guy who did it." Alpha heard someone whisper. He discreetly glanced in the direction of the voice and saw to his amusement a blonde haired hyperactive trainer talking to another.

Paul smiled. "Does that answer your question?"

They were chuckling when not 20 feet away from them the large glass doors slid open and in walked a group of people about Alpha's and Paul's age. Alpha filled with rage, as did Paul when they recognized each and every one of the faces and violent thoughts filled their minds and clouded their thoughts.

Alpha managed to get his aura, which now glowed bright red with anger, under control, and Paul seemed to calm down a little bit as the two of them saw the group and noticed them walking toward them.

Among the group were trainers Alpha had really hoped he would never run into for a while, unless by running into you meant literally running into – preferably with a wailord. In the middle stood a brunette girl around Alpha's age next to a young boy, a Pokémon trainer, by the look of his outfit, several years younger than the rest of them. Next to him on his left was a tall, dark man with squinted eyes and a rugged look. To his right was a tall girl about the man's age with somewhat red hair and pale white skin. Behind them all was a smaller girl, probably slightly younger than the rest of the girls, but not nearly as young as the young boy. She had blue hair and looked directly at Paul before walking to the front.

"Paul? Is that you? It's been forever, where have you been?"

"I've had better things to do than spending my life with the likes of you." Paul said coldly, spitting out the last word with a grim expression.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, but being here is more than enough from you." Paul retorted.

"Paul, are you alright?" The tall man asked, with a look of confusion and worry.

"What's it to you, Brock?"

"Ok then, sorry to disturb you." Brock said with a defensive look on his face as he turned to Paul's companion.

"Well then, how about you? It's nice to meet you. I'm brock, Pokémon breeder and doctor, at your service." Brock said, flashing a warm smile at the man in a dark cloak.

"Oh, I've heard many things about you, you heartless bastard."

"Ok, what is going on here? Why do you two hate us?"

"Why do I hate you? WHY DO I HATE YOU?! WHY, I-," Alpha began, starting to yell before calming himself down.

"I've heard the way you treated an old friend of mine, and I'll never forgive you for that." was all Alpha got out.

The young boy stepped out, yelling in fury. "Hey, don't talk to us like that, we didn't hurt your stupid friend? He must have been the most pathetic loser in the world to be friends with you in the first place!" Max yelled, angry at the man for being so rude to them.

"Good to know you hold him in such a high place, Max." Alpha said emotionlessly.

"Yeah and what if I don't? Who is this friend of yours anyway?" Max boomed.

"Ah, my stupid, pathetic loser friend? Ash was right, you are all horrible."

At the second sentence, the boy's, as well as the entire groups for that matter, expressions turned from anger and confusion to sadness and guilt.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I didn't know you meant him-"Max started, scratching the back of his head.

"No, you didn't know. You didn't know that he'd die after you forced him away, did you? You make me sick, all of you. You probably don't feel an ounce of remorse. Well he's gone, and it's your fault." Alpha said, and by the time he had finished the last sentence, his pointing hand had gone from max, to pointing directly at May.

That was all it took to get May to break. As Alpha's words broke every tiny fragment of her heart that betraying Ash hadn't broken already, all the emotions from that night came back at full power. Letting out a dysphoric gasp, she made no attempt to stop the sobs and tears as they escaped her like a dam with a big hole in it. She ran out the door crying as the guilt from what happened overtook her again.

Meanwhile, in the center, the other traitors weren't looking a whole lot better themselves. Dawn was in tears, silently crying and the men just looked down with faces of shame and guilt.

Paul just watched them with an angry smile, enjoying the fact that they were finally beginning to get at least some of what was coming to them.

That's when Max looked up and his face grew red as began to give Paul a piece of his mind.

"Hey, Paul! Why are you smiling at us like that, do you enjoy our pain? You think we haven't gone through anything after Ash left us? You're not the only one who got hurt that day!"

"Yes, please forgive me for not understanding the INCREDIBLE hurt you must have went through after causing someone else to feel betrayed. Your ailments are far worse than those you inflicted on someone who didn't deserve them. You think you got hurt that day? Do you know what empathy is? Why don't you try shutting your mouth for a minute, god knows if you've ever done that, and try to think what you may have done wrong that day. I have a hard time seeing how you were a victim, or any of you backstabbing lowlifes that day!" Paul practically yelled in fury, causing Max to back off in fear.

"What a colorful way to express your feelings, Paul." Alpha said, smiling, though nobody could tell what with the way his cloak covered his face entirely.

It took a while for the traitors to finally calm themselves down and to get the waterworks to stop flowing, but when they did, Brock stepped forward and addressed the two men who smiled.

"Look, Paul, and sir, I think I speak for everyone when I say that a day will never come where we won't feel guilty about that day. But it's in the past and feuds won't change what happened. I can't expect you to like us, or even forgive us, but I just wanted to say that I understand your hostility."

When Brock had finished talking, he went back to make sure that Dawn was okay, putting his arm around her shoulder protectively. Alpha took this time to have a conversation with Paul.

"I'm never going to get tired of seeing their emotions get lit up like this. Revenge is so sweet, yet best served cold." Alpha said with an evil smile.

"I couldn't agree more. But something's bothering me. We can't just make their lives hell. We'll be competing with them, and word might get out that we've been trying to sabotage their odds with bad memories."

"You make a good point. As much as I hate to say it, we'll have to act civil toward those…traitors…" Alpha agreed, grumbling out the last word like he was being forced to say it. "I'll go try to talk to one of them. Wait for me outside, I'll be out soon."

"Will do. Try not to be…more violent than you need to…yet." Paul said, smiling evilly as the last word.

With the final word of advice, Paul walked away, past the traitors and through the glass door of the Pokémon center. Alpha walked in the opposite direction, toward the traitors, before tapping on Brock's shoulder, to which he spun around with a sad look before comically straightening himself out.

"Oh, hi, did you need something, mister…uh…" Brock started, pondering on the last thought.

"…Alpha…that's my name."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Alpha, despite the incident before."

"About that. Look…" Alpha said, sighing and moving closer. "You probably know by now the way I feel toward all of you." Alpha began, lying through his teeth. "Ash was…special to me and when I heard what you did to m-well him- it made my opinions of you a little…tainted. I'm not going to pretend that I forgive you, or that I like you, but I think it's better for all of us if we act civil toward one another." Alpha said, gritting his teeth behind the cloak, trying not to harm Brock.

"I agree. Perhaps we could all go out and do something later; it would certainly help with the…hostility problem." Brock said, putting out his hand for a handshake.

Alpha, very, very slowly, put his hand out; trying hard to control the aura emanating from his body enough to that touching it would not hurt Brock. Their hands touched, and they shook, with Brock doing the most as Alpha strained to keep his hands to himself.

"Well, I hope to see you again Alpha." Brock said, smiling.

"And I hope you get crushed under a Wailord…"Alpha thought, internally laughing at the thought of Brock being hurt. Perhaps sometime later.

"…Likewise…" Alpha said slowly.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, why the cloak? It's weird to not know at all what someone looks like."

"…That's for me to know…" Alpha said matter-of-factly. Without waiting for a response, Alpha walked quickly away and out the door of the Pokémon center to meet Paul.

The last thing he could feel were several teary eyes watching him walk away.

* * *

_Like it? Hate it? Intrigued? Want to skin me alive over a large bonfire? Well, don't, you'll ruin it for the people who ant me to finish this story. But leave your opinions in the reviews and I'll be happy to see them._

_I've given up trying to create more supporting characters as competitors in the competition, so eventually I'll ask for OC's. Not yet, but keep it on the ol' radar._

_I'll try to update this sooner, really I will, but school comes first, even to me._

_Advanceshipping to come (Not soon enough x_x) in later chapters. Also, more drama._

_Until next time,_

_~The Resident That Guy~_


	8. Bye Bye, Mr Bird in the Sky

_Hello! This chapter is from the original story. I know what I said about the Y theory and all that, but I thought that this part of the story (which I intended to put earlier in the story) fit better here after May's breakdown. I'll be editing this within the next hour to make it fit better into the new place, so bear with me and report all inconsistencies in the reviews! Thanks. :)_

* * *

**3 years ago, May's memory...**

* * *

May was at her home in Petalburg City, crying her eyes out in her bed. Downstairs were Max, Norman, Caroline, Brock, and Dawn, also sad and angry at themselves for betraying Ash. Misty had to go back to her gym, Gary went back to Pallet Town, and Ritchie was off training.

"It's all our fault he left," claimed Brock.

"If only we weren't so stupid," chimed in Dawn.

"We can only guess how bad you kids feel, but just sitting here blaming yourself is not gonna bring Ash back," Caroline alleged.

"Yeah, I bet if you guys look long enough, you'll find him," Norman added.

A face of determination appeared on Brock's face. "You're right, we have to find him and beg for forgiveness."

"Alright, I'll get May and then we'll go," Max announced. Max walked up the stairs and to his sisters door, he quietly opened it and was greeted to book that flew straight past his face.

"Calm down May, I have something to tell you," Max shouted while using the door as a shield.

May wiped the tears form her face with a tissue and spoke, "Alright come in."

Max slowly walked in with his guard up, but almost started crying when he saw May. She had red eyes, from all the crying, her sheets were wet with tears, and her hair was a mess. "May are you alright," Max asked.

"Yeah I'm great," May said sarcastically, "I lost my best friend and the person I loved. Oh and did I mention that he probably hates me and never wants to see me," she said while tears streamed down her face.

"Well that's why I came up here, we all decided that we're gonna look for him and when we find him we're gonna beg him for forgiveness," Max suggested.

This peaked May's interest, "Do you really think he'll forgive us?"

Max smiled, "I know he will."

May got up from her bed and walked downstairs with Max. She looked around and saw everyone looking at her, "Well guys, we're not gonna find Ash if you're all just staring at me."

Everyone smiled, "Alright, lets go," Brock shouted.

* * *

**… 1 hour later**

* * *

"Alright the boat leaves in an hour so we should probably be leaving now," Brock announced.

"Okay," May said. "Bye Mom and Dad, next time you see us, Ash will be with us."

"Bye May, we wish you luck," Caroline said.

"Don't get hurt," Norman replied.

"We won't, alright guys lets go," May yelled.

The four of them walked the harbor in search of their ship By the time they reached the ship, there was only five minutes left. They gave the man their passes and walked onto the ship.

"So do you really think that Sinnoh is the best place to look for him," Max asked.

"Of course, that was the last time we saw him remember," Dawn replied.

"Dawn's right, but we should probably save our energy for tomorrow cause we got a lot of searching to do," May ordered.

"Okay," Brock said while yawning. "Well I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah I'm pretty beat too," Max announced while walking to his room. "Night."

Everyone walked to their room. 'I can't wait to see what happens next,' Max thought.

'I'm not sure we'll find him there but it's the best place to start,' Brock assumed.

Dawn was shaking with nervousness, 'I wonder what he'll say when we find him.'

May held her head up high, 'I know we'll find him, no matter what.'

* * *

**The next day...**

* * *

May opened her eyes. She was in a bed hugged tightly by the covers, she was very relaxed but very anxious at the same time. She slowly got out of bed and got dressed. She grabbed her pokeballs and walked outside where she was meet to the rays of the sun. She walked to the pool in the middle of the ship and saw Max in the water, Dawn sunbathing, and Brock unconscious with Croagunk standing in front of him.

Dawn was the first to notice May, "Hey, come on and lay down with me, we're not gonna have much time to rest when we reach Sinnoh."

May smiled and walked towards Dawn, "Yeah I guess your right," she said while laying down.

"So," Dawn said while grinning at May, "What are you gonna do when you find Ash."

May blushed, she really didn't know what she would do but she had an idea.

Dawn saw an opportunity to tease May, "You know what I'm gonna do when I see him," Dawn said.

"What," May asked while hoping that this story wouldn't go pearlshipping.

"I gonna tell him that I love him and then I'm gonna tel him I wanna be with him forever," Dawn announced.

May's face instantly went red with anger, "The hell you are, Ash is mine," May yelled.

All of the people around them instantly turned their attention to May and Dawn. Dawn instantly noticed this and tried to disarm the situation. "May calm down, your attracting a lot of unwanted attention."

May looked around and saw people staring at them, "Oh, sorry everyone, no need to worry," May announced to the crowd while Dawn cursed May for taking her catchphrase.

"May I was joking, I know you love Ash and I would never get in between you two," Dawn explained.

May was relieved to here this, the last thing she wanted was to compete with Dawn. "Phew, you scared me Dawn."

Dawn smiled, "Sorry May, I was just messing around with you. But I think it's obvious you have feelings for Ash.

May blushed again, "Well I guess it's no secret now."

"So, what are you gonna do when you see him."

"Well, I'll probably run to him and give him a big hug while I beg him to forgive me. And then I'm gonna get on my knees and..." May was saying before she was interrupted.

"Ew May, I don't want to here that," Dawn said disgusted.

May burst out in laughter, "That's payback for messing with me. But enough about me, what about you, you seemed pretty down when Paul left."

Dawn's face instantly turned red, "Paul, yeah right, as if, no way, not ever."

"Your face tells a different story," May said pointing to Dawn's blushing face.

Dawn instantly grabbed a towel and covered her face. She got up and quickly ran to her room, "Oh, sorry May I uh forgot something back in my room."

May laughed as she took in the sun, after a few hours she got up and looked for everyone. She finally saw them all at the food court eating.

"Hey guys," May yelled while waving at them.

"Hey May over here," Brock said while patting the open seat next to him.

May walked over the table and slid into her seat. She looked around at her friends and they all seemed a bit worried.

"Hey guys what's up, you all seem a little worried," May asked.

Brock took a deep breath, "Well we reach Sinnoh tomorrow morning and who knows how long we're gonna be looking for him. It could take months or years and even if we find him what makes us think that he's just gonna accept our apology."

May took a few seconds to think about what Brock had said and spoke. "Your right Brock, we don't no how long it will take or even where he is. But I couldn't live with myself if we just sat down and did nothing while Ash is out there thinking that we hate him."

Brock grinned at May's comment, "Your right May, I was wrong to doubt what we're doing," he said while standing up, "It's getting late and we're gonna need all the energy we have cause tomorrow our search begins. So lets get to bed," he said while walking away.

"We're gonna find him May," Max added while walking to his room.

This left Dawn and May the only ones still at the table. A devilish smile appeared across May's face. "So Dawn we never finished our conversation."

A confused look appeared on Dawn's face, "What conversa..." just then Dawn remembered it. "Oh yeah I'd love to but I need to get to sleep," Dawn yelled while running away.

May chuckled to herself, she then got up and walked to her room. She entered her room and instantly laid onto her bed and fell asleep. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day.

* * *

**The next day...**

* * *

A stern voice came out of the intercom, "We have reached the docks of Sinnoh, we are happy you chose to ride the S.S. Anne and hope you enjoyed your stay."

This announcement woke May up, 'Today is the day we start our journey,' May thought to herself. She jumped out of bed already dressed, grabbed her pokeballs and walked out of her room. She looked around to find Max, Brock, and Dawn all waiting for her on the docks.

"Hey guys," May said while running to them, "You ready to go."

"Yeah lets go," replied Max.

"Next stop, Celestic Town," Brock declared.

The four of them started their journey towards Celestic Town, that was the last place they saw Ash. It would only take a couple days to get there, but with the speed that May was walking they would get there in a day and a half. During the time they took to get to Celestic Town, they passed through a lot of towns and saw a lot of pokemon. After a day and a half, they were only ten minutes away from Celestic Town.

"We're finally here," May excitedly said.

"Wait May," Brock responded while taking in a deep breath, "Slow down we're exhausted."

"Ya sis, can't you just slow down a little bit," Max asked with sweat pouring down his face.

"I'm good," Dawn announced while she was on top of her Mamoswine letting it do all the walking.

"Guys come on, I can almost see the city from here," May said while pointing towards Celestic Town.

Since Dawn was on top of her Mamoswine she had the best view of the town. She stared at it and noticed something wrong. "Hey guys I can think I can see black smoke coming from the forest next to the town."

This got everyone's attention, "Steelix come on out here," Brock yelled. Steelix appeared out of his pokeball and stood there while Brock climbed up him to his head.

"Hey guys Dawn's right, the black smoke is coming from the forest, I think it's a fire," Brock announced.

"What, a fire we have to and try and put it down," May announced.

"Alright, lets go," Dawn shouted.

All four of them ran towards the fire, when they reached it they saw firefighters trying to put it out but the fire was getting to big to be put out.

"Guys we need to help them, call out all your water pokemon," Brock declared.

"Alright Wartortle get out here and use water gun on the fire," May announced.

"You too Piplup," Dawn ordered.

"Marshtomp you know what to do," Brock declared.

The pokemon and firefighters did there best to try and fight off the fire but it was too much for them.

"It's too much, we're not gonna be able to fight it off," May shouted.

"What are we gonna do, if this fire spreads anymore then it can burn down not just the forest but Celestic Town as well," explained Brock.

Suddenly a voice appeared out of nowhere, "Togekiss use water pulse, Gastrodon use muddy water, Milotic use surf, Roserade use sludge ball."

The moves made a big dent into the fire and in no time the fire was all put out.

"Phew that was a close one, you," the firefighter chief said pointing to a firefighter, "Look to see if there were any casualties in the fire."

"Yes sir," the firefighter said as he ran towards the burned woods.

"Thanks ma'am," Brock said while turning around. "Without you we would ha.." Brock stopped talking when he saw who helped them.

"It wasn't a problem at all Brock, it's good to see all of you," the woman replied.

May turned around and gasped when she saw her, "What are you doing here Cynthia?"

Cynthia just smirked, "Well this is my home town and I couldn't let anything happen to it. And what about you Brock, why aren't you at my feet telling me how much you love me," she asked.

"Well you see, Croagunk's poison jabs and Max's ear pulling is just too much, but if you wanna talk while they're not here," Brock suggested.

"This is no time to talk about this," Max said while pulling Brock away by his ear.

"But I didn't do anything this time," Brock shouted as he was taken away.

"So what are you are all doing back here," Cynthia asked.

"We're looking for Ash," May replied.

"I see, my greatest apologies once again for what happened," Cynthia said.

"It's okay, but we're not here to dwell on the past but to look for him," Dawn responded.

"Well if you do find him tell him that he can challenge me whenever he wants to," Cynthia claimed.

"We'll tell him that," Brock said, appearing out of nowhere with Max by his side.

"Hey Chief," the firefighter called out his superior.

"What is it, did you find anything," the chief asked.

A depressed look appeared on the firefighter's face, "We found a body that's burned beyond recognition and what looks like to be a burned up pikachu. We also found a couple of items next to it."

"Wait a burned pikachu and a body, you don't think," Max suggested.

Tears started to appear in May and Dawn's eyes," Shut up Max it can't be him," May screamed.

"Sir," Brock said to the firefighter, "Can we see the other items you found?"

"Yeah but it's not much," he said going back to the body and bringing the items.

He returned with a red and black hat with a semi blue circle and a full blue circle inside of it.

"Damn it," Brock screamed when he saw the hat, it was Ash's.

"No it can't be true," Dawn cried.

"Don't jump to conclusions guys, maybe he left his hat behind when he left," Max suggested.

"Let me see the other item," Brock demanded.

"Maybe this might mean something to you," the firefighter dug into his pocket and pulled out the final item.

Brock screamed out in anger, "This can't be how it ends, you were too good to die like this."

"Why did he have to go like this," Max cried out.

"It seems like we won't have that match, will we," Cynthia with tears forming in her eyes.

May saw the item and instantly fell on the floor crying harder then she ever had.

"No, this isn't right, why," Dawn yelled while falling to her knees with tears rolling down her face.

The firefighter chief looked at the crying group and went to the firefighter. "What's going on here, why are these kids all crying?"

The firefighter shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I just showed them this and they all started crying," he said while holding it out.

The firefighter chief examined the item, "Well I got no clue why someone would cry over half a contest ribbon, but just put it with all the other evidence."

* * *

**Presently...**

* * *

May sobbed as the memory of that day came flooding back to her. She had run out of the pokemon center because if anyone saw her like this, they'd think she was crazy.

_I killed Ash...he didn't die in a fire...it was my fault...why did I have to believe Drew? Why couldn't I see through it? Now Ash is dead because of me...stupid, Stupid, STUPID!_ May thought to herself as she cried, the guilt of killing her best friend and her true love made her sick with sadness. She'll never forgive herself, ever, for her unforgivable actions.

She sat there, her head buried in her knees and arms and cried herself to sleep, which wasn't much better as it consisted of nightmares about her love.


End file.
